REDUCED CIGARETTE IGNITION PROPENSITY

RSA tit. XXXI, ch. 339-F

in effect

RSA 339-F:1 Definitions.

339-F:1. Definitions. In this chapter: I. "Agent" means any person licensed by the department of revenue administration to purchase and affix adhesive or meter stamps on packages of cigarettes. II. "Cigarette" means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, and wrapped in any material except tobacco. III. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of safety. IV. "Manufacturer" means: (a) Any entity which manufactures or otherwise produces cigarettes or causes cigarettes to be manufactured or produced anywhere that such manufacturer intends to be sold in the state, including cigarettes intended to be sold in the United States through an importer; or (b) The first purchaser anywhere that intends to resell in the United States cigarettes manufactured anywhere that the original manufacturer or maker does not intend to be sold in the United States; or (c) Any entity which becomes a successor of an entity described in subparagraph (a) or (b). V. "Repeatability" means the range of values within which the repeat results of cigarette test trials from a single laboratory will fall 95 percent of the time. VI. "Retailer" means any person who sells tobacco products to consumers, and any vending machine in which tobacco products are sold. VII. "Sale" or "sell" means any transfer, whether by bargain, gift, exchange, barter, or otherwise. VIII. "Quality control and quality assurance program" means the laboratory procedures implemented to ensure that operator bias, systematic and nonsystematic methodological errors, and equipment related problems do not affect the results of the testing. This program ensures that the testing repeatability remains within the required repeatability values stated in RSA 339-F:3, V for all test trials used to certify cigarettes in accordance with this chapter. IX. "Vending machine operator" means any person operating one or more tobacco vending machines on property or premises other than his or her own. X. "Wholesaler" means any person doing business in this state who shall purchase all of his or her unstamped tobacco products directly from a licensed manufacturer, and who shall sell all of his or her products to licensed wholesalers, subjobbers, vending machine operators, retailers, and those persons exempt from the tobacco tax under RSA 78:5. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007. 2019, 178:4, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.

RSA 339-F:2 General Requirements.

339-F:2. General Requirements. I. On and after October 1, 2007, no cigarettes shall be sold or offered for sale in this state unless: (a) The cigarettes have been tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in RSA 339-F:3. (b) The cigarettes meet the performance standard specified in RSA 339-F:4. (c) A written certification has been filed by the manufacturer with the commissioner and the New Hampshire department of justice in accordance with RSA 339-F:6. (d) The cigarettes are marked in accordance with RSA 339-F:8. II. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit wholesalers or retailers from selling their inventory of cigarettes existing on October 1, 2007, provided that such wholesaler or retailer can establish that tax stamps were affixed to such cigarettes pursuant to RSA 78 prior to October 1, 2007, and provided further that such wholesaler or retailer can establish that such inventory was purchased prior to October 1, 2007 in comparable quantity to the inventory purchased during the same 12-month period of the prior year. III. Consistent with RSA 78:10, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any person or entity from selling or offering for sale cigarettes that have not been certified by the manufacturer in accordance with RSA 339-F:6 if such cigarettes are or will be stamped for sale in another state or are packaged for sale outside the United States. IV. No person shall sell tobacco products through a vending machine in violation of this chapter. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007. 2019, 178:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.

RSA 339-F:3 Test Method.

339-F:3. Test Method. I. Testing of cigarettes 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." The commissioner may adopt a subsequent ASTM 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 ASTM Standard E2187-04 and the performance standard in RSA 339-F:4. II. Testing shall be conducted on 10 layers of filter paper. III. Forty replicate tests shall comprise a complete test trial for each cigarette tested. IV. The performance standard required by RSA 339-F:4 shall only be applied to a complete test trial. V. 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 be no greater than 0.19 pursuant to RSA 339-F:4. VI. This section does not require additional testing if cigarettes are tested consistent with this chapter for any other purpose. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:4 Performance Standard.

339-F:4. Performance Standard. I. When tested in accordance with RSA 339-F:3, no more than 25 percent of the cigarettes tested in a test trial shall exhibit full length burns. II. Each cigarette listed in a certification submitted pursuant to RSA 339-F:6 that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to achieve compliance with the performance standard set forth in paragraph I shall have at least 2 nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At least one complete band shall be located at least 15 millimeters from the lighting end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, there shall be at least 2 bands fully located at least 15 millimeters from the lighting end and 10 millimeters from the filter end of the tobacco column, or 10 millimeters from the labeled end of the tobacco column for non-filtered cigarettes. III. The manufacturer of a cigarette that the commissioner determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method prescribed in RSA 339-F:3 shall propose a test method and performance standard for such cigarette to the commissioner. Upon approval of the proposed test method and a determination by the commissioner that the performance standard proposed by the manufacturer is equivalent to the performance standard prescribed in paragraph I, the manufacturer may employ such test method and performance standard to certify such cigarette pursuant to RSA 339-F:6. If another state has enacted reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards, or similar requirements, that include a test method and performance standard for cigarettes, and if officials responsible for implementing those requirements have approved a manufacturer's proposed alternative test method and performance standard for a particular cigarette under a legal provision comparable to this paragraph, that manufacturer may employ that alternative test method and performance standard to certify that cigarette in this state, provided that the manufacturer obtains the approval of the commissioner, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. All other applicable requirements of this chapter shall apply to such manufacturer. IV. This chapter shall be implemented in accordance with the substance of the New York Fire Safety Standards for Cigarettes, as amended. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:5 Test Data.

339-F:5. Test Data. In order to ensure compliance with the performance standard specified in RSA 339-F:4, data from testing conducted by manufacturers to comply with this performance standard shall be kept on file by such manufacturers for a period of 3 years and shall be sent to the commissioner upon its request and to the department of justice upon its request. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:6 Certification.

339-F:6. Certification. I. Each manufacturer shall submit a written certification attesting that each cigarette listed in the certification has been tested in accordance with RSA 339-F:3 and meets the performance standard set forth in RSA 339-F:4. II. Each cigarette listed in the certification shall be described with the following information: (a) Brand (i.e., the trade name on the package). (b) Style (i.e., light, ultra light). (c) Length in millimeters. (d) Circumference in millimeters. (e) Flavor (i.e., menthol, chocolate), if applicable. (f) Filter or non-filter. (g) Package description (i.e., soft pack, box). (h) Marking approved in accordance with RSA 339-F:8. III. Each cigarette certified under this section shall be re-certified every 3 years. IV. If a manufacturer has certified a cigarette pursuant to paragraph II, and thereafter makes any change to the cigarette that is likely to alter its compliance with the reduced cigarette ignition propensity standard under RSA 339-F:3, such cigarette shall not be sold or offered for sale in this state until the manufacturer retests the cigarette in accordance with the testing standards in RSA 339-F:3 and maintains records of the retesting as required by RSA 339:F-5. Any altered cigarette that does not meet the performance standard in RSA 339-F:4 shall not be sold in this state. V. For each cigarette listed for certification a manufacturer shall pay a fee of $250 to the department of safety for deposit in the fire standards and training and emergency medical services fund established in RSA 21-P:12-d for the purpose of providing fire safety education pursuant to RSA 153:10-c. VI. For each cigarette re-certified under this chapter a manufacturer shall pay a fee of $250 to the department of safety for deposit in the fire standards and training and emergency medical services fund established in RSA 21-P:12-d for the purpose of providing fire safety education pursuant to RSA 153:10-c. VII. The state fire marshal shall submit an annual report by December 31 relative to certification of reduced ignition propensity cigarettes to the standing committees in the house of representatives and the senate with jurisdiction over matters pertaining to health and human services and ways and means. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007. 2009, 122:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; 144:176, eff. July 1, 2009.

RSA 339-F:7 Notification of Certification.

339-F:7. Notification of Certification. Manufacturers certifying cigarettes in accordance with RSA 339-F:6 shall provide a copy of such certifications to all wholesalers and agents to which they sell cigarettes and also shall provide sufficient copies of an illustration of the cigarette packaging marking utilized by the manufacturer pursuant to RSA 339-F:8 for each retailer to which the wholesalers and agents sell cigarettes. Wholesalers and agents shall provide a copy of these cigarette packaging markings received from manufacturers to all retailers to which they sell cigarettes. Wholesalers and agents shall permit the commissioner or the commissioner's designee to inspect markings of cigarette packaging marked in accordance with RSA 339-F:8. Retailers shall permit the commissioner, the commissioner's designee, any law enforcement official, or any fire chief or fire chief's designee, to inspect markings of cigarette packaging marked in accordance with RSA 339-F:8. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:8 Marking of Cigarette Packaging.

339-F:8. Marking of Cigarette Packaging. I. Cigarettes which have been certified by a manufacturer in accordance with RSA 339-F:6 shall be marked to indicate compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Such marking shall be in 8 point type or larger and consist of: (a) Modification of the UPC to include a visible mark printed at or around the area of the UPC. Such mark may consist of alphanumeric or symbolic character permanently stamped, engraved, embossed, or printed in conjunction with the UPC; (b) Any visible combination of alphanumeric or symbolic character permanently stamped, engraved, or embossed upon the cigarette package or cellophane wrap; or (c) Printed, stamped, engraved, or embossed text that indicates that the cigarettes meet the standards of this chapter. II. A manufacturer shall use only one marking, and shall apply this marking uniformly for all packages, including but not limited to packs, cartons, and cases, and brands marketed by that manufacturer. III. The manufacturer shall notify the commissioner of the selected marking. IV. Prior to the certification of any cigarette, a manufacturer shall present its proposed marking to the commissioner for approval. Upon receipt of the request, the commissioner shall approve or disapprove the marking offered. A marking in use and approved for the sale of cigarettes in the state of New York shall be deemed approved. Proposed markings shall be deemed approved if the commissioner fails to act within 10 business days of receiving a request for approval. V. No manufacturer shall modify its approved marking unless the modification has been approved by the commissioner in accordance with this section. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:9 Penalties.

339-F:9. Penalties. I. Any wholesaler, agent, or other person or entity who knowingly sells cigarettes wholesale in violation of RSA 339-F:2, I(c) shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each sale. Any retailer who knowingly sells cigarettes in violation of RSA 339-F:2 shall be subject to the following: (a) A civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each sale or offer for sale of such cigarettes if the total number of cigarettes sold or offered for sale in such sale does not exceed 1,000 cigarettes. (b) A civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each sale or offer for sale of such cigarettes if the total number of cigarettes sold or offered for sale in such sale exceeds 1,000 cigarettes. II. In addition to any penalty prescribed by law, any corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership or association engaged in the manufacture of cigarettes that knowingly makes a false certification pursuant to RSA 339-F:6 shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each such false certification. III. Notwithstanding RSA 617, any cigarette sold, offered for sale, or possessed for sale in this state, in violation of RSA 339-F:2 shall be contraband under RSA 78:18 and shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. All cigarettes seized and forfeited shall be destroyed and not resold. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007. 2019, 178:6, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.

RSA 339-F:10 Enforcement.

339-F:10. Enforcement. To enforce the provisions of this chapter, the department of justice may bring an action on behalf of the people of this state to enjoin acts in violation of this chapter and to recover civil penalties authorized under RSA 339-F:9. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

RSA 339-F:11 Administration.

339-F:11. Administration. The commissioner shall be responsible for administering the provisions of this chapter. Source. 2006, 195:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2007.

Source: New Hampshire General Court (gc.nh.gov)URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/NHTOC/NHTOC-XXXI-339-F.htmFetched: 10/20/2026