§1628. Test method and performance standard

A. Except as provided in Subsection G of this Section, no cigarettes may be sold or offered for sale in this state or offered for sale or sold to persons located in this state unless the cigarettes have been tested in accordance with the test method and meet the performance standards specified in this Section, a written certification has been filed by the manufacturer with the state fire marshal in accordance with R.S. 40:1629, and the cigarettes have been marked in accordance with R.S. 40:1630.

(1) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard E2187-04, "Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes".

(2) Testing shall be conducted on ten layers of filter paper.

(3) No more than twenty-five percent of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with this Section shall exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests shall comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette tested.

(4) The performance standard required by this Section shall only be applied to a complete test trial.

(5) Written certifications shall be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory that has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO/IEC 17025 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), or other comparable accreditation standard required by the state fire marshal.

(6) Laboratories conducting testing in accordance with this Section shall implement a quality control and quality assurance program that includes a procedure that will determine the repeatability of the testing results. The repeatability value shall be no greater than nineteen-hundredths.

(7) This Section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested consistent with this Act for any other purpose.

(8) Testing performed or sponsored by the state fire marshal to determine a cigarette's compliance with the performance standard required shall be conducted in accordance with this Section.

B. Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to R.S. 40:1629 that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the performance standards set forth in this Section shall have at least two nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band shall be located at least fifteen 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 fifteen millimeters from the lighting end and ten millimeters from the filter end of the tobacco column, or ten millimeters from the labeled end of the tobacco column for non-filtered cigarettes.

C. A manufacturer of a cigarette that the state fire marshal determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in this Section shall propose a test method and performance standards for the cigarette to the state fire marshal. 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 this Section, the manufacturer may employ such test method and performance standard to certify such cigarette pursuant to R.S. 40:1629. If the state fire marshal determines that another state has enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards that include a test method and performance standards that are the same as those contained in this Act*, and the state fire marshal finds that the officials responsible for implementing those requirements have approved the proposed alternative test method and performance standards for a particular cigarette proposed by a manufacturer as meeting the fire safety standards of that state's laws or regulations under a legal provision comparable to this Section, then the state fire marshal shall authorize that manufacturer to employ the alternative test method and performance standards to certify that cigarette for sale in this state, unless the state fire marshal demonstrates a reasonable basis why the alternative test should not be accepted under this Act*. All other applicable requirements of this Section shall apply to the manufacturer.

D.(1) Each manufacturer shall maintain copies of the reports of all tests conducted on all cigarettes offered for sale for a period of three years and shall make copies of these reports available to the state fire marshal or the attorney general upon written request.

(2) Any manufacturer who fails to make copies of these reports available within sixty days of receiving a written request shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars for each day after the sixtieth day that the manufacturer does not make such copies available.

E. The state fire marshal 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 of full-length burns exhibited by any tested cigarette when compared to the percentage of full-length burns the same cigarette would exhibit when tested in accordance with ASTM Standard E2187-04 and the performance standards in this Section.

F. The state fire marshal shall review the effectiveness of this Section and report every three years to the legislature its findings and, if appropriate, recommendations for legislation to improve the effectiveness of this Act*. The report and legislative recommendations shall be submitted no later than June thirtieth following the conclusion of each three-year period.

G. The requirements of this Section shall not prohibit:

(1) A wholesale dealer or retail dealer from selling its existing inventory of cigarettes on or after August 31, 2009, if the wholesale dealer's inventory was purchased prior to August 31, 2009.

(2) The sale of cigarettes solely for the purpose of consumer testing. For purposes of this Subsection, the term "consumer testing" means an assessment of cigarettes that is conducted directly by, or under the direction and control 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.

H. This Section shall be implemented in accordance with the implementation and substance of the New York Fire Safety Standards for Cigarettes.

Acts 2007, No. 409, §1, eff. August 31, 2009.

*Acts 2007, No. 409