2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 50. Health and Safety › Chapter 65. Cigarette Standards › Part 1. General Provisions › 50-65-102. Cigarette test method and performance standard -- conditions on sale -- alternative test method and performance standard

50-65-102. Cigarette test method and performance standard -- conditions on sale -- alternative test method and performance standard.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (7), cigarettes may not be sold or offered for sale in this state or sold or offered for sale to persons located in this state unless:
(a) the cigarettes have been tested in accordance with the test method provided in this section;
(b) the cigarettes meet the performance standard specified in this section;
(c) the manufacturer has filed a written certification with the state fire marshal in accordance with 50-65-103; and
(d) the cigarettes have been marked in accordance with 50-65-104.
(2) (a) Testing of cigarettes must be conducted in accordance with the American society for testing and materials standard E2187-04, the standard test method for measuring the ignition strength of cigarettes.
(b) Testing must be conducted on 10 layers of filter paper.
(c) No more than 25% of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with this section may exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests compose a complete test trial for each cigarette used.
(d) The performance standards required in subsection (2)(c) may be applied only to a complete test trial.
(e) Written certifications must be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory that has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO/IEC 17025 of the international organization for standardization or another comparable accreditation standard required by the state fire marshal.
(f) Laboratories conducting testing in accordance with this section shall implement a quality control and quality assurance program that includes a procedure for determining the repeatability of the testing results. The repeatability value may not be greater than 0.19.
(g) This section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested for any other purpose in a manner that is consistent with this chapter.
(h) Testing performed or sponsored by the state fire marshal to determine a cigarette's compliance with the required performance standard must be conducted in accordance with this section.
(3) Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to 50-65-103 that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the performance standard provided in this section must have at least two nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band must be located at least 15 millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, there must be at least two bands fully located at least 15 millimeters from the lighting end and 10 millimeters from the filter end of the tobacco column or, for nonfiltered cigarettes, 10 millimeters from the labeled end of the tobacco column.
(4) (a) A manufacturer of a cigarette that the state fire marshal determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in subsection (2)(a) shall propose a test method and performance standard for the cigarette to the state fire marshal.
(b) Upon approval of the proposed test method and a determination by the state fire marshal that the performance standard proposed by the manufacturer is equivalent to the performance standard prescribed in subsection (2)(c), the manufacturer may employ that test method and performance standard to certify a cigarette pursuant to 50-65-103.
(c) If the state fire marshal determines that another state has enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards that include a test method and performance standard that are the same as those contained in 50-65-102 and the state fire marshal determines that the officials responsible for implementing those requirements have approved the proposed alternative test method and performance standard for a particular cigarette proposed by a manufacturer as meeting the fire safety standards of that state's law or regulation under provisions comparable to this section, the state fire marshal shall authorize the manufacturer to employ the alternative test method and performance standard to certify the cigarette for sale in this state unless the state fire marshal demonstrates a reasonable basis why the alternative test is unacceptable. All other applicable provisions of this section apply to the manufacturer even if the alternative test method and performance standard are authorized.
(5) Each manufacturer shall maintain copies of the reports of all tests conducted on all cigarettes offered for sale for a period of 3 years and shall make copies of these reports available to the state fire marshal and the attorney general upon written request. A manufacturer who fails to make copies of the reports available within 60 days of receipt of a written request is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each day after the 60th day that the manufacturer does not make the copies available.
(6) The state fire marshal may adopt a subsequent American society for testing and materials standard test method for measuring the ignition strength of cigarettes upon a finding that the subsequent method does not result in a change in the percentage of full-length burns exhibited by any tested cigarette when compared to the percentage of full-length burns that the same cigarette would exhibit when tested in accordance with the standard provided in subsection (2)(a) and the performance standard in subsection (2)(c).
(7) The requirements of subsection (1) do not prohibit a wholesale dealer or retail dealer from selling the wholesale dealer's or retail dealer's existing inventory of cigarettes on or after May 1, 2008, if the wholesale dealer or retail dealer can establish that state tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to May 1, 2008, and if the wholesale dealer or retail dealer establishes that the inventory was purchased prior to May 1, 2008, in comparable quantity to the inventory purchased during the same period of the prior year.
(8) Because this chapter is based on New York law, it is the intent of the legislature that this chapter be implemented in accordance with the implementation and substance of the New York executive law section 156-c, fire safety standards for cigarettes.
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 318, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 28, L. 2013.