Sec. 29-418. Testing of cigarettes. Requirements. Alternative test methods. Retention of copies. Civil penalty. Report.
Sec. 29-418. Testing of cigarettes. Requirements. Alternative test methods.
Retention of copies. Civil penalty. Report. (a) All testing by or on behalf of a holder
of a cigarette manufacturer's license or by or on behalf of the Office of the State Fire
Marshal to determine a cigarette's compliance with the performance standard specified
in this section shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements:
(1) Testing of cigarettes shall be conducted in accordance with the American Society of Testing and Materials or "ASTM" standard E2187-04, "Standard Test Method
for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes" or a subsequent ASTM Standard Test
Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes upon a finding by the State
Fire Marshal that such 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 subdivision (3) of this subsection;
(2) Testing shall be conducted on ten layers of filter paper;
(3) Not more than twenty-five per cent of the cigarettes tested in a test trial in accordance with this section shall exhibit full-length burns. Forty replicate tests shall comprise
a complete test trial for each cigarette tested;
(4) The performance standard required by this section shall only be applied to a
complete test trial;
(5) Written certifications shall be based upon testing conducted by a laboratory
that has been accredited pursuant to standard ISO or IEC 17025 of the International
Organization for Standardization or such other comparable accreditation standard as
the Office of the State Fire Marshal may require by regulation;
(6) 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. Such program ensures that the testing repeatability remains within the required
repeatability value set forth in this subdivision for all test trials used to certify cigarettes
in accordance with this section and section 29-419; and
(7) No additional testing under this section is required if cigarettes are tested consistent with this section for any other purpose.
(b) Each cigarette that uses lowered permeability bands in the cigarette paper to
achieve compliance with the performance standard set forth in this section shall have not
less than two nominally identical bands on the paper surrounding the tobacco column. At
least one complete band shall be located not less than fifteen millimeters from the lighting
end of the cigarette. For cigarettes on which the bands are positioned by design, there
shall be not less than two bands fully 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.
(c) A holder of a cigarette manufacturer's license that manufactures a cigarette that
the State Fire Marshal determines cannot be tested in accordance with the test method
prescribed in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section may propose an alternate
test method and performance standard for the cigarette to the State Fire Marshal. Upon
approval and a determination by the State Fire Marshal that the performance standard
proposed by the holder is equivalent to the performance standard prescribed in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section, the holder may employ such test method and
performance standard to certify such cigarette pursuant to section 29-419. 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 section, 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 holder as
meeting the reduced cigarette ignition propensity standards of that state's law or regulations under a legal provision comparable to this section, then the State Fire Marshal shall
authorize that holder to employ the alternative test method and performance standard to
certify that cigarette for sale in this state, unless the State Fire Marshal has a reasonable
basis for deciding that the alternative test should not be accepted under said sections.
All other applicable requirements of this section shall apply to the holder.
(d) Each holder of a cigarette manufacturer's license shall maintain copies of the
reports of all tests conducted on all cigarettes with respect to which such holder has
submitted written certification in accordance with the provisions of section 29-419.
Such holder shall provide copies of the reports available to the Office of the State Fire
Marshal and to the office of the Attorney General upon written request. Any holder that
fails to provide such copies not later than sixty days after receiving a written request
shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for each day after
the sixtieth day that the holder does not make such copies available.
(e) The State Fire Marshal shall review the effectiveness of the implementation of
this section and shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety, in accordance with
section 11-4a, containing the State Fire Marshal's findings and, if appropriate, recommendations for legislation to improve the effectiveness of this section. Such report shall
be submitted not later than June 30, 2011, and every three years thereafter.
(P.A. 07-180, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 07-180 effective July 1, 2008.