52:4D-6. Certification by tobacco product manufacturer as to compliance

3. a. Every tobacco product manufacturer whose cigarettes are sold in this State, whether directly or through a distributor, retailer or similar intermediary or intermediaries, annually shall execute and deliver in the manner prescribed by the Attorney General a certification to the director and Attorney General no later than April 30, certifying under penalty of perjury that, as of the date of such certification, such tobacco product manufacturer either is a participating manufacturer or is in full compliance with the requirements of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-1 et seq.).

(1) A participating manufacturer shall include in its certification a complete list of its brand families. The participating manufacturer shall update such list no later than 30 days prior to any addition or modification to brand families by executing and delivering a supplemental certification to the Attorney General.

(2) A non-participating manufacturer shall include in its certification a complete list of all of its brand families: (a) separately listing brand families of cigarettes and the number of units sold for each brand family that were sold in the State during the preceding calendar year; (b) all of its brand families that have been sold in the State at any time during the current calendar year; (c) indicating, by an asterisk, any brand family sold in the State during the preceding calendar year that is no longer being sold in the State as of the date of the certification; and (d) identifying by name and address any other manufacturer of those brand families in the preceding calendar year. The non-participating manufacturer shall update the list no later than 30 days prior to any addition or modification to its brand families by executing and delivering a supplemental certification to the Attorney General.

(3) In the case of a non-participating manufacturer, the certification shall further certify: (a) that the non-participating manufacturer is registered to do business in the State or has appointed a resident agent for service of process and provided notice thereof as required by subsection b. of section 6 of this act; (b) that the non-participating manufacturer has (i) established and continues to maintain a qualified escrow fund; and (ii) executed a qualified escrow agreement that has been reviewed and approved by the Attorney General and that governs the qualified escrow fund; (c) that the non-participating manufacturer is in full compliance with P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-1 et seq.), and this act, and any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; (d) (i) the name, address and telephone number of the financial institution at which the non-participating manufacturer has established the qualified escrow fund required pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-3), and all regulations promulgated thereto; (ii) the account number of the qualified escrow fund and sub-account number for the State of New Jersey; (iii) the amount the non-participating manufacturer placed in the fund for units sold in the State during the preceding calendar year, the date and amount of each of those deposits, and such evidence or verification as may be deemed necessary by the Attorney General to confirm the foregoing; and (iv) the amounts of and dates of any withdrawal or transfer of funds the non-participating manufacturer made at any time from the fund or from any other qualified escrow fund into which it has ever made escrow payments pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-3) and all regulations promulgated thereto.

b. A tobacco product manufacturer shall not include a brand family in its certification unless:

(1) in the case of a participating manufacturer, that participating manufacturer affirms that the brand family is to be deemed to be cigarettes of the participating manufacturer for purposes of calculating its payments under the Master Settlement Agreement for the relevant year, in the volume and shares determined pursuant to the Master Settlement Agreement; and

(2) in the case of a non-participating manufacturer, that non-participating manufacturer affirms that the brand family is to be deemed to be cigarettes of the non-participating manufacturer for purposes of calculating its units sold pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-3).

Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting or otherwise affecting the State's right to maintain that a brand family constitutes cigarettes of a different tobacco product manufacturer for purposes of calculating payments under the Master Settlement Agreement or for purposes of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-1 et seq.).

c. A tobacco product manufacturer shall maintain all invoices and documentation of sales and any other information relied upon for the certification for a period of five years, unless otherwise required by law to maintain them for a longer period of time.

L.2003,c.25,s.3.