South Carolina § 11-48-80 - Certification of intention to comply with chapter; authority to promulgate regulations; recovery of investigation and litigation costs; relation to Chapter 47; severability.

§ 11-48-80. Certification of intention to comply with chapter; authority to promulgate regulations; recovery of investigation and litigation costs; relation to Chapter 47; severability.

(A) A person must not be issued a license or granted a renewal of a license to act as a cigarette distributor unless the person has certified in writing, under penalty of perjury, that he intends to comply fully with this chapter.

(B) For the year 2005, the first report of cigarette distributors required by Section 11-48-50(A) is due thirty days after the effective date of this chapter; the certifications by a tobacco product manufacturer described in Section 11-48-30(A) are due forty-five days after the effective date of this chapter; and the directory described in Section 11-48-30(B) must be published or made available within ninety days after the effective date of this chapter.

(C) The Attorney General may promulgate regulations necessary to effect the purposes of this chapter.

(D) In any action brought by the State to enforce this chapter, the Office of the Attorney General is entitled to recover the costs of investigation, expert witness fees, costs of the action, and reasonable attorney fees for a successful investigation or action.

(E) Unless otherwise expressly provided, the remedies or penalties provided by this chapter are cumulative to each other and to the remedies or penalties available under all other laws of this State.

(F) If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 47 conflict and cannot be harmonized, then the provisions of Chapter 47 must control. If any section, paragraph, item, or subitem, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter causes Chapter 47 of Title 11 to no longer constitute a Qualifying or Model Statute, as those terms are defined in the Master Settlement Agreement, then that portion of this chapter is invalid. If any section, paragraph, item, subitem, subsubitem, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter is held to be invalid, unlawful, or unconstitutional, that decision does not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter or any part of it.

HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 61, SECTION 1.A.