2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FIVE - Internal Security (§§ 1 — 3356) › Subtitle 1 - Generally (§§ 1 — 1973) › PART III - Fire Protection (§§ 311-322 — 342h) › Chapter 34 - Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Measuring Act (§§ 342 — 342h) › § 342a - Test method and performance standards

(a) No cigarettes may be sold, offered for sale, or sold to persons who are Puerto Rico residents unless the cigarettes have been tested in accordance with the test method, and a certification has been filed with the office of the Fire Chief of the Firefighters Corps of Puerto Rico as provided in §§ 342b and 342c of this title.
(1) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the American Society of Testing and Materials standard (A.S.T.M. E-2187-04), the “Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes”.
(2) Testing shall be conducted on 10 layers of filter paper.
(3) Not more than 25% of the cigarettes tested in a test trial required by this section shall exhibit full-length burns.
(4) The performance standard required by this section shall only be applied to a complete test trial.
(5) Written certifications shall be based on testing conducted by a laboratory that has been accredited pursuant to the standard ISO/IEC 17025 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or other comparable accreditation standard required by the Fire Chief or the Firefighters Corps of Puerto Rico.
(6) Laboratories accredited in accordance with clause (5) of this subsection shall implement a quality control and quality assurance program that includes a process to determine the repeatability of the testing results. The repeatability value shall be not greater than 0.19.
(7) This section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested consistent with this chapter for any another purpose.
(8) Testing performed or sponsored by the Fire Chief to determine a cigarette’s compliance with the performance standard required by this section shall be conducted in accordance with this section.
(b) The different types of cigarettes listed in the certification to be submitted pursuant to § 342b of this title that use lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the performance standard set forth in this section, shall have at least two identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band shall be located at least 15 millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, there shall 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 10 millimeters from the labeled end of the tobacco column for non-filtered cigarettes.
(c) A manufacturer of a cigarette that the Fire Chief of the Firefighters Corps of Puerto Rico determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in subsection (a)(1) of this section, shall propose another test method and performance standard to the Fire Chief for his evaluation. Upon approval of the proposed test method, and a determination by the Fire Chief that it complies with the provisions of this chapter, the manufacturer may employ such test method and performance standard to certify such cigarette pursuant to § 342b of this title. If the Fire Chief determines that another state has enacted standards with test methods that are the same as those contained in this chapter, he may authorize the manufacturer to employ said alternative test method for the purpose of certifying that cigarette in Puerto Rico. If the Fire Chief does not accept the test method presented by the manufacturer, he/she must demonstrate that the alternative test fails to comply with the standards set forth in this chapter and in the ASTM E-2187-04 and any revision thereof. All other requirements in this section shall apply to the manufacturer.
(d) Each manufacturer shall keep copies of the reports with the results of the tests conducted on all the different types of cigarettes offered for sale for a period of three (3) years, and shall furnish copies of the reports to the Fire Chief and the Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico upon written request. Any manufacturer that fails to provide copies of these reports within a term of sixty (60) days after receiving the written request shall be subject to a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day after the sixtieth day.
(e) The Fire Chief may adopt a subsequent ASTM Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes upon a finding that such subsequent method does not result in a change in the percentage full-length burns the same cigarette would exhibit when tested in accordance with the ASTM Standard E2187-04 and the performance standard in subsection (a)(3) of this section.
(f) The requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall not prohibit:
(1) Wholesale or retail dealers from selling their existing inventory of cigarettes on or after the effective date of this act if the wholesale or retail dealer can establish that the Commonwealth tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to the effective date, and that the existing cigarette inventory was acquired prior to the effective date in comparable quantity to the inventory acquired during the same period of the prior year, or
(2) The sale of cigarettes solely for the purpose of consumer testing. For purposes of this subsection, the term “consumer testing” shall mean an assessment of cigarette that is conducted by a manufacturer (or under the control or direction of a manufacturer) for the purpose of evaluating consumer acceptance of such cigarettes, utilizing only the quantity of cigarettes that is reasonably necessary for such assessment.
(g) This chapter shall comply with and be construed in a manner that is consistent with the laws of the United States of America that govern this matter; it shall also be construed in a manner that is consistent with the laws of the states of the United States of America that have promulgated laws to measure the reduced cigarette ignition propensity as of the effective date of this chapter.
History —June 16, 2012, No. 119, § 3.