(a) For purposes of this section, “applicable returns” means the following returns or reports relating to cigarettes that are filed or required to be filed with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the United States Department of Treasury (TTB), the federal Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) after the effective date of the act adding this section:

(1) Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Form 5000.24.

(2) Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Form 5210.5.

(3) Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Form 5220.6.

(4) United States Customs and Border Protection Form 7501.

(5) Any successor returns or reports intended to replace the forms specified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive.

(b) As a condition of selling cigarettes in the state, every tobacco product manufacturer, as defined in paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 30165.1, whose cigarettes are to be sold in the state whether directly or through a distributor, importer, retailer, or similar intermediary or intermediaries shall, at the election of tobacco product manufacturer, either:

(1) Submit to the Attorney General a true and correct copy of each and every applicable return of the tobacco product manufacturer.

(2) Submit to the United States Treasury a request or consent under Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(c) authorizing the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to disclose the applicable returns of manufacturer to the Attorney General.

(c) A foreign tobacco product manufacturer whose cigarettes are imported into the United States by an importer or importers shall submit, or shall cause each of its importers to submit, to the Attorney General and the board both of the following:

(1) Each and every applicable return, form, or report filed with TTB and CBP that includes any information about cigarettes of that foreign tobacco product manufacturer imported into the United States.

(2) A report of the sales of each brand family in this state in the form and manner specified by the Attorney General or the board.

(d) A foreign tobacco manufacturer shall also cause every importer who will sell its cigarettes in this state to obtain and maintain a license as an importer in compliance with Division 8.6 (commencing with Section 22970) of the Business and Professions Code.

(e) The Attorney General and the board shall not disclose any applicable returns or any information contained therein, except as necessary to carry out the functions and duties of the Department of Justice or board, or as provided in subdivision (f).

(f) The Attorney General and the board may compile data on cigarette shipments from the applicable returns and may share data with other states that are signatories to the Master Settlement Agreement, as defined in paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 30165.1, provided that states impose or agree to provide protections against disclosure of the applicable returns, or any information from applicable returns, that are equivalent to the protections provided under subdivision (e).

(g) A tobacco product manufacturer who does not comply with the requirements of subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) shall, after 30 days notice by the Attorney General or the board to the tobacco product manufacturer of the failure to comply, be removed, along with its brand families, from the tobacco directory unless the tobacco product manufacturer has brought itself into compliance by the end of the 30-day period.

(h) (1) Any tobacco manufacturer or importer that intentionally provides any applicable return containing materially false information shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed the greater of either of the following:

(A) Five times the retail value of the cigarettes or tobacco products defined as cigarettes under this section and about which false information was provided.

(B) Five thousand dollars ($5,000).

(2) The provisions of each applicable return containing one or more false statements shall constitute a separate offense.

(i) The Attorney General may promulgate regulations to implement and carry out this section.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 265, Sec. 8. (AB 2496) Effective January 1, 2011.)