HOUSE BILL 984

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

George J. Hanosh

AN ACT

RELATING TO TOBACCO; CHANGING AND ADDING DEFINITIONS IN THE CIGARETTE TAX ACT; AMENDING THE CIGARETTE TAX ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 7-12-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1971, Chapter 77, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "7-12-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Cigarette Tax Act:

          A. "cigarette" means any roll of tobacco [or any substitute for tobacco] wrapped in paper or in [anything that is not one hundred percent] any substance not containing tobacco or tobacco in any form that is functional in a product that, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to or purchased by consumers as a cigarette; "cigarette" includes bidis, [and] kreteks and small cigars [sold in packages similar to] when packaged like cigarettes [unless the cigar is wrapped in one hundred percent tobacco] in packages of twenty or more; "small cigar" means any roll of tobacco that is wrapped in leaf tobacco or any substance containing tobacco, other than any roll of tobacco that is commonly known as a "cigarette", and that one thousand units of which weigh not more than three pounds;

          B. "contraband cigarettes" means cigarette packages with counterfeit stamps, counterfeit cigarettes, cigarettes that have false or fraudulent manufacturing labels and cigarette packages without the tax or tax-exempt stamps required by the Cigarette Tax Act;

          C. "department" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee;

          D. "distributor" means a person licensed pursuant to the Cigarette Tax Act to sell or distribute cigarettes in New Mexico. "Distributor" does not include:

                (1) a retailer;

                (2) a cigarette manufacturer, export warehouse proprietor or importer with a valid permit pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5713, if that person sells cigarettes in New Mexico only to distributors that hold valid licenses under the laws of a state or sells to an export warehouse proprietor or to another manufacturer; or

                (3) a common or contract carrier transporting cigarettes pursuant to a bill of lading or freight bill, or a person who ships cigarettes through the state by a common or contract carrier pursuant to a bill of lading or freight bill;

          E. "license" means a license granted pursuant to the Cigarette Tax Act that authorizes the holder to conduct business as a manufacturer or distributor of cigarettes;

          F. "manufacturer" means a person that manufactures, fabricates, assembles, processes or labels a cigarette or that imports from outside the United States, directly or indirectly, a finished cigarette for sale or distribution in the United States;

          G. "master settlement agreement" means the settlement agreement and related documents entered into on November 23, 1998 by the state and leading United States tobacco product manufacturers;

          H. "package" means an individual pack, box or other container; "package" does not include a container that itself contains other containers, such as a carton of cigarettes;

          I. "retailer" means a person, whether located within or outside of New Mexico, that sells cigarettes at retail to a consumer in New Mexico and the sale is not for resale;

          J. "stamp" means an adhesive label issued and authorized by the department to be affixed to cigarette packages for excise tax purposes and upon which is printed a serial number and the words "State of New Mexico" and "tobacco tax";

          K. "tax stamp" means a stamp that has a specific cigarette tax value pursuant to the Cigarette Tax Act; and

          L. "tax-exempt stamp" means a stamp that indicates a tax-exempt status pursuant to the Cigarette Tax Act."

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