P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 15006
(a) Any tobacco products manufacturer that sells cigarettes in Puerto Rico, be it directly or through a distributor, retailer or intermediary similar to other intermediaries, shall submit, in a form to be provided by the Department of the Treasury, a certification to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Justice, not later than April 30 of each year, certifying under oath before a notary public that, as of the date of said certification, said tobacco products manufacturer is a participating manufacturer or is in compliance with Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico”, including the payment of the quarterly partial payments required by § 15008(b) of this title.
(1) Every participating manufacturers shall include in this form a list of its family of brands. The participating manufacturer shall update said list thirty (30) calendar days before any addition or modification to its family of brands is made by providing and submitting a supplementary form to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Justice.
(2) Every non-participating manufacturer shall include in their certified form:
(A) A list of all their families of brands and the number of units sold for each family of brands that were sold in Puerto Rico in the past calendar year;
(B) a list of all their families of brands sold in Puerto Rico at any time during the calendar year;
(C) indicating, by an asterisk, any family of brands sold in Puerto Rico during the past calendar year that is no longer sold in Puerto Rico as of the date of said certification, and
(D) identifying by name and address any other manufacturer of said family of brands in the past or the current calendar year.
The non-participating manufacturer shall update said list thirty (30) days before making any addition to or modification of its family of brands by providing and submitting a supplementary form to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Justice.
(3) In the case of a non-participating manufacturer, said form shall also certify:
(A) That said non-participating manufacturer is registered to conduct business in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or has appointed a resident agent as process server and has provided notice thereof as required by § 15007 of this title.
(B) That said non-participating manufacturer:
(i) Has established and continues maintaining a qualified escrow account, and
(ii) has granted a qualified escrow agreement that has been revised and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and that the same applies to the qualified escrow fund.
(C) That said non-participating manufacturer is in compliance with Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico”, and with Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended, as well as this chapter and any other regulations promulgated under these.
(D)
(i) The name, address, and telephone number of the financial/banking institution in which the non-participating manufacturer has established said qualified escrow account required under Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico”, and Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended, as well as any regulations promulgated under the latter;
(ii) the account number of said qualified escrow account and any numbers of supplementary accounts for Puerto Rico;
(iii) the amount that said non-participating manufacturer placed in said fund for cigarettes sold in Puerto Rico during the prior calendar year, the date and amount of each deposit, and whichever evidence or verification that may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Treasury to confirm the latter, and
(iv) the amount and date of any withdrawal or transfer of funds of the non-participating manufacturer made at any time from said fund or from any other qualified escrow account to which it has at any time made escrow payments pursuant to Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico” and all regulations promulgated under the same.
(4) A tobacco products manufacturer may not include a family of brands in its certified form unless:
(A) In the case of a participating manufacturer, said participating manufacturer assures that the family of brands shall be deemed to be its cigarettes for the purpose of calculating its payments under the Master Settlement Agreement for the relevant year, in the volume and the contributions determined according to the Master Settlement Agreement, and
(B) in the case of a non-participating manufacturer, said non-participating manufacturer assures that the family of brands shall be deemed to be its cigarettes for the purposes of Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico” and Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting or otherwise affecting the right of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to maintain that a family of brands constitutes cigarettes of another tobacco products manufacturer for the purpose of calculating the payments under the Master Settlement Agreement or for the purposes of Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico” and Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended.
(5) Tobacco products manufacturers shall retain all sales invoices and documents and all other information used for said certification for a period of five (5) years, unless it is required by law that they be maintained for a longer period of time.
(b) Official list of cigarettes approved for sale. — Not later than December 31, 2003, the Secretary of the Treasury shall prepare an official list including all tobacco products manufacturers that have submitted the updated and true certified forms pursuant to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section and of all the families of brands included in said certification (the “official list”), except as indicated below.
(1) The Secretary of the Treasury shall not include or retain in said official list the name or the families of brands of any non-participating manufacturer that has failed to provide the form required or that the Secretary of the Treasury has determined that said form does not meet the requirements of subsections 2(a), 2 and (3), unless the Secretary of the Treasury has determined that said violation has been rectified to his/her satisfaction.
(2) Neither the Tobacco Products Manufacturer nor the Family of Brands shall be included or retained in the Official List if the Secretary of the Treasury concludes, in the case of Non-Participating Manufacturers, that:
(A) Any escrow payment required pursuant to Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico” and Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended, for any period of any family of brands, listed or not by said non-participating manufacturer, has not been paid into a qualified escrow fund governed by a qualified escrow agreement that has been approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, or
(B) that any final sentence pending, including interest on the same, for violations of Act No. 401 of September 9, 2000, better known as the “Act to Regulate the Tobacco Products Manufacturers Liability to the Government of Puerto Rico” and Act No. 453 of December 28, 2000, as amended, has not been fully satisfied for said family of brands or said manufacturer.
(3) The Secretary of the Treasury shall update the official list as may be necessary in order to correct errors and to add or remove a tobacco products manufacturer or a family of brands so as to maintain the official list in agreement with the requirements of this chapter.
(4) Every distributor, retailer or intermediary similar to other intermediaries shall provide and update as necessary an electronic address to the Secretary of the Treasury for the purpose of receiving any notice as may be required by this chapter.
(c) Prohibition against selling or importing cigarettes not included in the official list. — No natural or juridical person, including any tobacco products manufacturer, that sells cigarettes to consumers in Puerto Rico, be it directly or through a distributor, retailer or intermediary similar to other intermediaries, may fix, or cause to be fixed, the label required by the Department of the Treasury in § 9009(b) of Title 13, known as the “Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994”, to a box, carton or pack of cigarettes unless said cigarette family of brands and the tobacco products manufacturer that produces or sells those cigarettes is included in the official list described in subsection (b) of this section. Furthermore, no distributor, retailer or intermediary shall sell or market a box, carton or pack of cigarettes unless said cigarette family of brands and the tobacco products manufacturer that produces or sells those cigarettes is included in the official list described in Section 2(b) of this Act.
History —Sept. 15, 2004, No. 305, § 3.