§ 18-13-02 — Test method and performance standard - Penalty (Contingent expiration date - See note)

date - See note)
1. Except as provided in subsection 7, a cigarette may not be sold or offered for sale in
this state or offered for sale or sold to persons located in this state unless the cigarette
has been tested in accordance with the test method and meets the performance
standard specified in this section, a written certification has been filed by the
manufacturer with the state fire marshal in accordance with section 18-13-03, and the
cigarette has been marked in accordance with section 18-13-04.
a. Testing of cigarettes must be conducted in accordance with the American society
of testing and materials standard E2187-04, "standard test method for measuring
the ignition strength of cigarettes".
b. Testing must be conducted on ten layers of filter paper.
c. No more than twenty-five percent of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in
accordance with this section may exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests
must comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette tested.
d. The performance standard required by this section must be applied only to a
complete test trial.

e. Written certifications must be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory that
has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO/IEC 17025 of the international
organization for standardization, or other comparable accreditation standard
required by the state fire marshal.
f. A laboratory 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 may not
be greater than nineteen hundredths.
g. This section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested consistent
with this chapter for any other purpose.
h. Testing performed or sponsored by the state fire marshal to determine a
cigarette's compliance with the performance standard required must be
conducted in accordance with this section.
2. Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to section 18-13-03 which
uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the
performance standard set forth in this section must have at least two nominally
identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete
band must be located at least fifteen millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette.
For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, at least two bands must
be 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 nonfiltered cigarettes.
3. A manufacturer of a cigarette that the state fire marshal determines cannot be tested in
accordance with the test method prescribed in subdivision a of subsection 1 shall
propose a test method and performance standard 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 subdivision c of subsection 1, the
manufacturer may employ the test method and performance standard to certify the
cigarette pursuant to section 18-13-03. If the state fire marshal determines that
another state has enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards that include
a test method and performance standard that are the same as those contained in this
chapter, and the state fire marshal finds that the officials responsible for implementing
those requirements have approved the proposed alternative test method and
performance standard for a particular cigarette proposed by a manufacturer as
meeting the fire safety standards of that state's law or regulation under a legal
provision comparable to this section, the state fire marshal shall authorize that
manufacturer to employ the alternative test method and performance standard 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 chapter.
All other applicable requirements of this section apply to the manufacturer.
4. 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 and the insurance commissioner upon
written request. Any manufacturer who fails to make copies of these reports available
within sixty days of receiving a written request is subject to a civil penalty not to
exceed ten thousand dollars for each day after the sixtieth day that the manufacturer
does not make those copies available.
5. The state fire marshal may adopt a subsequent American society of testing and
materials standard test method for measuring the ignition strength of cigarettes upon a
finding that the 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
American society of testing and materials standard E2187-04 and the performance
standard in subdivision c of subsection 1.

6. The state fire marshal shall review the effectiveness of this section and report each
interim to the legislative management the state fire marshal's findings and any
recommendation for legislation to improve the effectiveness of this chapter.
7. The requirements of subsection 1 may not prohibit:
a. Wholesale or retail dealers from selling their existing inventory of cigarettes after
July 31, 2010, if the wholesale or retail dealers can establish that the inventory
was purchased before August 1, 2010, in comparable quantity to the inventory
purchased during the same period of the prior year; or
b. The sale of cigarettes solely for the purpose of consumer testing. For purposes of
this subsection, "consumer testing" means an assessment of cigarettes which is
conducted by a manufacturer, or under the control and direction of a
manufacturer, for the purpose of evaluating consumer acceptance of those
cigarettes, utilizing only the quantity of cigarettes which is reasonably necessary
for the assessment.
8. This chapter must be interpreted and construed to effectuate its general purpose to
make uniform this chapter with the laws of those states that have enacted reduced
cigarette ignition propensity laws as of the date this chapter is enacted.