Cigarette and tobacco products.

(1) The California Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003 (hereafter the act) provides for the licensure, by the State Board of Equalization, of manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers of cigarette or tobacco products that are engaged in business in California and prohibits retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers from distributing or selling those cigarette and tobacco products unless they are in compliance with those licensure requirements. The act requires a manufacturer or importer to comply with specified requirements in order to be eligible for obtaining and maintaining a license under that act, including consent to jurisdiction of the California courts for the purpose of enforcement of that act and appointment of a registered agent for service of process in this state. This bill would require a manufacturer or importer to additionally consent to jurisdiction of the California courts for the purpose of enforcement of the Master Settlement Agreement and the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law or, in lieu of this consent, to post a surety bond, as specified . The bill would provide that a licensee who does not waive the sovereign immunity defense or post the surety bond is ineligible to obtain or maintain a license and would also make a licensee who raises a sovereign immunity defense in a specified action subject to revocation of its license. This bill would require the manufacturer or importer to additionally identify the registered agent to the Attorney General. The act authorizes a peace officer or board employee granted limited peace officer status to conduct inspections at any site where evidence of activities involving evasion of cigarette or tobacco products tax may be discovered. This bill would additionally authorize those officers to inspect any site with respect to violations of a specified provision of the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law. The act prohibits an importer, distributor, or wholesaler, or distributor functioning as a wholesaler, or retailer, to purchase, obtain, or otherwise acquire any package of cigarettes to which a stamp or meter impression may not be affixed in accordance with the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law. A violation of this provision is a misdemeanor. This bill would additionally prohibit those persons from acquiring a package of cigarettes unless the brand family or product manufacturer of the cigarettes is included on a directory posted by the Attorney General described in (3) . By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state‑mandated local program. (2) Existing law prohibits the retail sale of cigarettes in California unless the sale is a vendor-assisted, face-to-face sale, as defined. This bill would allow delivery sales, as defined, in specified circumstances. The bill would make violation of this provision a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Under existing law, states' attorneys general and various tobacco product manufacturers have entered into a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) , in settlement of various lawsuits, that provides for the allocation of money to the states and certain territories. The state has entered into a memorandum of understanding providing for the allocation of the state's share of moneys to be received under the MSA between the state and counties and certain cities in the state. Existing law requires any tobacco product manufacturer selling cigarettes to consumers in California to place specified amounts into a qualified escrow fund by April 15 of each year. This bill would authorize a tobacco product manufacturer that elects to place funds into a qualified escrow fund to make an irrevocable assignment of its interest in the funds to the benefit of the State of California, as specified. This bill would require any funds assigned to the state that are withdrawn to be deposited into the General Fund as a credit against any judgment or settlement which may be obtained against the tobacco product manufacturer that has assigned the funds. (4) The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law requires every tobacco product manufacturer whose cigarettes are sold in this state to make a certification to the Attorney General regarding certain information. That law makes a false certification a misdemeanor. This bill would require certification of additional information, as specified. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state‑mandated local program. The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law requires the Attorney General to post on the Attorney General's Internet Web site a directory of tobacco product manufacturers that are participating manufacturers under the MSA, and that have made all required escrow payments and provided certification of related information to the Attorney General. That law also requires the Attorney General's Internet Web site to include specified brand families, as defined, that have been identified by the tobacco product manufacturers. Existing law also requires that a manufacturer and brand families be excluded from the directory, if any of certain circumstances occur. This bill would establish circumstances under which a manufacturer and brand families are to be excluded from the directory of manufacturers and brand families, and would require the Attorney General to provide distributors and wholesalers with written notice of each tobacco product that is added to or removed from the directory and to provide notice to each licensed distributor, wholesaler, retailer, or other person who has provided an electronic mail address for this purpose. This bill would also require a newly qualified nonparticipating manufacturer, as defined, or a nonparticipating manufacturer that poses an elevated risk of noncompliance with that law or the MSA, to post a surety bond, as specified before inclusion onto the directory. This bill would specify that a person is prohibited from shipping or distributing into or within this state for personal consumption in this state cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family not included in the directory, and would provide that this specification is declaratory of existing law. This bill would require any nonparticipating manufacturer located outside of the United States, as an additional condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory, to cause its importers to appoint an agent, as specified, and would impose additional specified responsibilities upon such a manufacturer. This bill would give the Attorney General additional specified authority regarding the administration of that law. This bill would, as a condition of selling cigarettes in the state, require a tobacco product manufacturer, as specified, to submit, or authorize to disclose, a copy of its applicable return. This bill would provide that failure to comply with that provision would subject the manufacturer and its brand families to removal from the directory. This bill would impose a civil penalty on any manufacturer that intentionally provides an applicable return with materially false information. (5) Existing law prohibits the offer, sale, distribution, or importation of a tobacco product know as "bidis" or "beedies," as defined, unless it is sold or intended for sale in business establishments that exclude minors. This bill would amend the definition of "bidis" or "beedies" to include any product that is marketed and sold as "bidis" or "beedies," and would clarify that persons who violate this prohibition are subject to both criminal and civil liability. By changing the definition of related crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) This bill would provide that the provisions of this bill are severable. (7) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 22979 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2733, that would become operative only if AB 2733 and this bill are both chaptered and become operative on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is chaptered last. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.