Washington § 82.26.260 - Tobacco product code — Tax payment and exemption verification.

(1)(a) Within one year following the date on which the requirement for a tobacco product code is effective, payment of, or exemption from, the tax imposed in RCW 82.26.020 must be verifiable on each single-unit consumer-sized can or package of moist snuff, as provided in (b) of this subsection.

(b) Within thirty days following the date on which notice of proposed rule making to require a tobacco product code is published in the federal register, the department must commence to develop a method for using a tobacco product code to verify payment of, or exemption from, the tax imposed in RCW 82.26.020; to develop and implement a pilot project to test the method; and to develop a plan for adoption of rules to implement the method. The department must report to the legislature on its progress annually by December 1st through the year following the year in which the method is implemented.

(2) If notice of proposed rule making to require a tobacco product code is not published in the federal register by July 1, 2011, the department must determine and recommend to the legislature by November 1, 2014, a method to verify payment of, or exemption from, the tax imposed in RCW 82.26.020, by means of stamping, use of manufacturers' digitally readable product identifiers, or any other method, and must complete and present to the legislature a study of compliance with the tax imposed in RCW 82.26.020, the effect of noncompliance on state revenue, and the effect of adopting a method to verify payment of, or exemption from, the tax.

(3) For purposes of this section, "tobacco product code" means a code that is required on the label of a tobacco product for purposes of tracking or tracing the product through the distribution system under final regulations adopted by the secretary of the United States department of health and human services.

Intent—Effective date—2010 1st sp.s. c 22: See notes following RCW 82.24.020.