OAR 150-180-0010: Civil Penalties for Non Participating Manufacturers of the Master Settlement Agreement

(1) The Department of Revenue may assess a civil penalty against any person who sells, holds or possesses cigarettes for sale in Oregon that are cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family that were acquired at a time that the particular tobacco product manufacturer or brand family was not included on the nonparticipating manufacturer directory developed by the Oregon Department of Justice. (a) The department will apply the following guidelines to determine the amount of the penalty, including the factors described in subsection (3) of this rule: Incident — Penalty Not to Exceed — Minimum Penalty First — Warning notice Second — $100 per pack — $1,000 Third — $500 per pack — $1,000 Fourth — $1,000 per pack — $1,000 Fifth and subsequent — $5,000 per pack — $1,000 (b) For any single incident, including each sale, possession for sale or offer to sell, the department will not impose a total penalty that exceeds the greater of $5,000 or 500 percent of the retail value of the cigarettes. (2) The Department of Revenue may assess a civil penalty against any person who affixes an Oregon tax stamp to a package of cigarettes produced by a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family that, at the time the stamp was affixed, was not included on the Dept. of Justice’s directory of nonparticipating manufacturers. The department will apply the following guidelines to determine the amount of the penalty, including consideration of the factors described in subsection (3) of this rule: Incident — Penalty Not to Exceed — Minimum Penalty First — Warning notice Second — $100 per stamp affixed — $1,000 Third — $500 per stamp affixed — $1,000 Fourth — $1,000 per stamp affixed — $1,000 Fifth and subsequent — $5,000 per stamp affixed — $1,000 (3) The department may consider the following factors when determining the civil penalty for the violations listed in subsection (1) and (2) of this rule: (a) Number of previous inspections by the Department of Revenue held at the business; (b) Number of previous violations of Chapter 323 provisions; (c) Size of business; and (d) Any other factors the department considers relevant to its determination.