69-2702. Tobacco product manufacturer; terms, defined.

For purposes of this section and section 69-2703:

(1) Adjusted for inflation means increased in accordance with the formula for inflation adjustment set forth in Exhibit C to the Master Settlement Agreement;

(2) Affiliate means a person that directly or indirectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another person. Solely for purposes of this subdivision, the terms owns, is owned, and ownership means ownership of an equity interest, or the equivalent thereof, of ten percent or more, and the term person means an individual, a partnership, a committee, an association, a corporation, or any other organization or group of persons;

(3) Allocable share means allocable share as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement;

(4) Cigarette means any product that contains nicotine, is intended to be burned or heated under ordinary conditions of use, and consists of or contains (a) any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in any substance not containing tobacco; (b) tobacco, in any form, that is functional in the product, which, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette; or (c) any roll of tobacco wrapped in any substance containing tobacco which, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette described in subdivision (a) of this subdivision. The term cigarette includes roll-your-own tobacco (i.e., any tobacco which, because of its appearance, type, packaging, or labeling is suitable for use and likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as tobacco for making cigarettes). For purposes of this definition, nine-hundredths of an ounce of roll-your-own tobacco shall constitute one individual cigarette;

(5) Days means calendar days unless specified otherwise;

(6) Importer means any person in the United States to whom non-federal-excise-tax-paid cigarettes manufactured in a foreign country are shipped or consigned, any person who removes cigarettes for sale or consumption in the United States from a customs bonded manufacturing warehouse, or any person who smuggles or otherwise unlawfully brings cigarettes into the United States;

(7) Indian country means (a) all land in this state within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of this state, and (c) all Indian allotments in this state, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through such allotments;

(8) Indian tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians under the laws of the United States;

(9) Master Settlement Agreement means the settlement agreement entered into on November 23, 1998, between the state and specific United States tobacco product manufacturers and related documents to such agreement;

(10) Qualified escrow fund means an escrow arrangement with a federally or state-chartered financial institution having no affiliation with any tobacco product manufacturer and having assets of at least one billion dollars where such arrangement requires that such financial institution hold the escrowed funds' principal for the benefit of releasing parties and prohibits the tobacco product manufacturer that places such funds into escrow from using, accessing, or directing the use of the funds' principal except as consistent with subdivision (2)(b) of section 69-2703;

(11) Released claims means released claims as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement;

(12) Releasing parties means releasing parties as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement;

(13) Tobacco product manufacturer means an entity that after April 29, 1999, directly and not exclusively through any affiliate:

(a) Manufactures cigarettes anywhere that such manufacturer intends to be sold in the United States, including cigarettes intended to be sold in the United States through an importer (except when such importer is an original participating manufacturer (as that term is defined in the Master Settlement Agreement) that will be responsible for the payments under the Master Settlement Agreement with respect to such cigarettes as a result of the provisions of subsection II(mm) of the Master Settlement Agreement and that pays the taxes specified in subsection II(z) of the Master Settlement Agreement, and provided that the manufacturer of such cigarettes does not market or advertise such cigarettes in the United States);

(b) Is the first purchaser anywhere for resale in the United States of cigarettes manufactured anywhere that the manufacturer does not intend to be sold in the United States; or

(c) Becomes a successor of an entity described in subdivision (13)(a) or (13)(b) of this section.

The term tobacco product manufacturer does not include an affiliate of a tobacco product manufacturer unless such affiliate itself falls within any of subdivisions (13)(a) through (13)(c) of this section; and

(14) Units sold means the number of individual cigarettes sold in the state by the applicable tobacco product manufacturer, whether directly or through a distributor, retailer, or similar intermediary or intermediaries, during the year in question, in packs required to bear a stamp pursuant to section 77-2603 or 77-2603.01 or, in the case of roll-your-own tobacco, on which a tax is due pursuant to section 77-4008.

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