§ 35-9-803 — Requirements for sale; test method; adoption of other state's testing method, if appropriate; performance standards; exceptions

(a) Except as provided in this act, cigarettes may not be
offered for sale or sold to persons located in this state unless
the cigarettes have been tested and have met the required
performance standard specified in this section, the manufacturer
has filed a written certification with the department of revenue
in accordance with W.S. 35-9-804 and the cigarettes have been
marked in accordance with W.S. 35-9-805. The following testing
requirements shall apply:
(i) Cigarette testing shall be conducted in
accordance with the American society of testing and materials
("ASTM") standard E2187-04, "Standard Test Method for Measuring
the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes," in effect on February 1,
2010. The state fire marshal may adopt a subsequent ASTM
standard upon a written 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 ASTM standard E2187-04 and the
performance standard in this section;
(ii) Testing shall be conducted on ten (10) layers of
filter paper;
(iii) No more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the
cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with this
section shall exhibit full length burns. Forty (40) replicate
tests shall comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette
tested;
(iv) The performance standard required by this
section shall be applied only to a complete test trial;
(v) 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;
(vi) 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 not be greater than nineteen hundredths (0.19);
(vii) This section does not require additional
testing if cigarettes are tested consistent with this act for
any other purpose;
(viii) Testing performed or sponsored by the state
fire marshal to determine a cigarette's compliance with the
performance standard required by this section shall be conducted
in accordance with this section.
(b) Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted
pursuant to W.S. 35-9-804 that uses lowered permeability bands
in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the
performance standard set forth in this section shall have at
least two (2) nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding
the tobacco column. At least one (1) complete band shall be
located at least fifteen (15) millimeters from the lighting end
of the cigarette. Cigarettes on which the bands are positioned
by design shall have at least two (2) bands fully located at
least fifteen (15) millimeters from the lighting end and at
least ten (10) millimeters from the filter end of the tobacco
column. For nonfiltered cigarettes the bands shall be at least
ten (10) millimeters from the labeled end of the tobacco column.
(c) If the state fire marshal determines that a cigarette
cannot be tested in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) of this
section, the manufacturer shall propose a test method and
performance standard. If the state fire marshal approves the
proposed test method and determines that the performance
standard proposed by the manufacturer is equivalent to the
performance standard prescribed in paragraph (a)(iii) of this
section, that test method and performance standard may be used
to certify the cigarette pursuant to W.S. 35-9-804.
(d) The state fire marshal shall authorize a manufacturer
to employ an alternative test method and performance standard to
certify a cigarette for sale in this state if the fire marshal
determines that:
(i) Another state has enacted reduced cigarette
ignition propensity standards that include the proposed
alternative test method and performance standard;
(ii) The other state's testing method and performance
standard are the same as those adopted pursuant to paragraph
(a)(i) of this section;
(iii) The officials responsible for implementing the
other state's requirements have approved the proposed
alternative test method and performance standard for a
particular cigarette as meeting the fire safety standards of
that state's law or regulation under a legal provision
comparable to this section; and
(iv) There is no reasonable basis to reject the
alternative testing method.
(e) Manufacturers shall maintain copies of reports of all
tests conducted on all cigarettes offered for sale for three (3)
years and shall make copies available upon written request by
the department of revenue or attorney general. Any manufacturer
failing to make copies of the requested reports available within
sixty (60) days of receipt of the request shall be subject to a
civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00)
for each day after the sixtieth day that the manufacturer fails
to make copies available.
(f) Repealed by Laws 2015, ch. 55, § 2.
(g) The requirements of subsection (a) of this section
shall not prohibit:
(i) Wholesale or retail dealers from selling after
the effective date of this act the dealer's inventory of
cigarettes existing on the effective date of this act if the
wholesale or retail dealer can establish that state tax stamps
were affixed to the cigarettes prior to the effective date and
the wholesale or retail dealer can establish that the inventory
was purchased prior to the effective date of this act in a
comparable quantity to the inventory purchase during the same
period of the prior year; or
(ii) The sale of cigarettes solely for the purpose of
consumer testing using only the quantity of cigarettes that is
reasonably necessary for the testing. For purposes of this
paragraph the term "consumer testing" means an assessment of
cigarettes that is conducted by a manufacturer, or under the
control and direction of a manufacturer, for the purpose of
evaluating consumer acceptance of the cigarettes.