§ 66-294. Duties of manufacturers. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 66‑294.  Duties ofmanufacturers.

(a)        ParticipatingManufacturers. – Unless the Office of the Attorney General provides a waiver, aparticipating manufacturer must submit to the Office of the Attorney General alist of all of the manufacturer's brand families by April 30th of each year.The participating manufacturer must notify the Office of the Attorney Generalof any changes to the list of brand families it offers for sale 30 days priorto the change.

(b)        NonparticipatingManufacturers. – A nonparticipating manufacturer must:

(1)        Appoint andcontinuously maintain a process service agent within the State of NorthCarolina to accept service of any notification or enforcement of an actionunder this Article. The manufacturer shall file a certified copy of eachinstrument appointing a process service agent with the Secretary of State andthe Office of the Attorney General.

(2)        Submit an annualapplication to the Office of the Attorney General for inclusion of thenonparticipating manufacturer's products on the compliant nonparticipatingmanufacturer's list, in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(3)        Notify the Office ofthe Attorney General of any changes to the list of brand families it offers forsale 30 days prior to the change.

(4)        Have made the escrowpayments required under G.S. 66‑291(a)(2) for all cigarettes belonging tothe brand families included in the list submitted in the application forinclusion and any brand families added to the list since it was submitted tothe Office of the Attorney General.

(5)        Submit an escrowagreement to the Office of the Attorney General.

(6)        Not delivercigarettes unless the cigarettes are included on the compliant nonparticipatingmanufacturer's list in effect on the date of delivery.

(c)        Nonparticipating Manufacturer'sApplication. – A nonparticipating manufacturer must submit an application tothe Office of the Attorney General by April 30th of each year for inclusion onthe compliant nonparticipating manufacturers' list. The Attorney General mayprovide a waiver of the deadline for good cause. The application must include acertification that the nonparticipating manufacturer has fulfilled the dutieslisted in subsection (b) of this section and a list of the brand families ofthe manufacturer offered for sale in the State during either the currentcalendar year or the previous calendar year. The certification must be in theform required by the Office of the Attorney General. (2002‑145, s. 3.)