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2011 SESSION
11103546DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 3.2-4207 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 3.2-4207. Prohibition against stamping or sale or import of cigarettes not in the Directory.
A. It
shall be unlawful for any person (i) to affix a stamp to a package or other
container of cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family not
included in the Directory, or (ii) to sell, offer or possess for sale in the
Commonwealth, ship or otherwise distribute into or within the Commonwealth, or
import for personal consumption into the Commonwealth, cigarettes of a tobacco
product manufacturer or brand family not included in the Directory. For
purposes of this article a person shall be deemed to have received notice that
cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family are not included
in the Directory at the time the Attorney General's website fails to list any
such cigarettes in the Directory or at the time any such cigarettes are removed
from the Directory. A person purchasing cigarettes for resale shall not be in
violation of this section (ia) if at the time of such
purchase the manufacturer and brand families of the cigarettes are included in
the Directory and the cigarettes are otherwise lawfully stamped and sold within 14 45
days of the date such manufacturer and brand families were removed from the
Directory or (iib) if, in the case of a
retailer, the cigarettes are sold or delivered to consumers within 14 45
days after receipt of delivery of such cigarettes from a wholesaler, which
cigarettes otherwise have been lawfully purchased from the same wholesaler. A tobacco product manufacturer that is otherwise in
compliance with the requirements of this chapter may, for reasons satisfactory
to the Attorney General, request removal of itself, or
cigarettes in a brand family that it manufactures or
has manufactured, from
the Directory. A person purchasing cigarettes for resale shall not
be in violation of this section if (1) at
the time of such purchase, the manufacturer and brand families
of the cigarettes are included in the Directory and the cigarettes are
otherwise lawfully stamped and sold within 60 days of the date such cigarettes
were removed from the Directory or (2) in
the case of a retailer, the cigarettes are sold or delivered to consumers
within 60 days after receipt of delivery of such cigarettes from a wholesaler and
the cigarettes have been lawfully purchased from the
same wholesaler. The updates to the Directory required by subsection B of § 3.2-4206
shall contain a notation indicating such voluntary removal. For
purposes of this subsection, “reasons satisfactory to the Attorney General”
shall include cessation of the business operations of the tobacco products
manufacturer and voluntary discontinuance of a product line or brand family.
B. Any
manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer selling cigarettes for resale of a
manufacturer or brand family that has been removed from the Directory shall
notify the purchaser of such cigarettes of that fact at the time of delivery of
such cigarettes. Unless otherwise provided by contract or purchase agreement, a
purchaser shall be entitled
to receive
a refund from the such
manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer from whom the cigarettes were
purchased of the purchase price of any cigarettes that are the product of a
manufacturer or brand family removed from the Directory. Any
failure of such manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer to provide the
purchaser with the refund required under this subsection shall (i) create a
cause of action by the Attorney General against
such manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer in favor of the purchaser and
(ii) subject such manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer to a civil penalty
of $500 for each violation, which shall be payable to the Literary Fund.
C. The Commissioner shall, by regulation or guidelines, provide for the refund of the purchase price of tax stamps that have been lawfully affixed to cigarettes that may not be sold pursuant to the provisions of this section.