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§ 1254.7. Enforcement and penalties

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 35 P.S. Health and SafetyEffective: July 4, 2008

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 35 P.S. Health and Safety (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 12B. Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act
Effective: July 4, 2008
35 P.S. § 1254.7
§ 1254.7. Enforcement and penalties
(a) Penalties.--
(1) Any manufacturer, wholesale dealer, agent or any other person or entity who knowingly sells or offers to sell cigarettes, other than through retail sale, in violation of section 41 shall, for a first offense, be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per each sale of cigarettes and, for a subsequent offense, be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 per each sale of cigarettes. A penalty against a person or entity under this section may not exceed $100,000 during any 30-day period.
(2) Any retail dealer who knowingly sells or offers to sell cigarettes in violation of section 4 shall, for a first offense, be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 and, for a subsequent offense, be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each violation. In no case shall the penalty against any retail dealer exceed $25,000 for sales or offers to sell during any 30-day period.
(3) In addition to any penalty provided by statute, an entity engaged in the manufacture of cigarettes that knowingly makes a false certification under section 52 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $75,000 and not more than $250,000 for each false certification.
(4) Any cigarettes that have been sold or offered for sale and are not certified pursuant to this act or do not bear the package marking approved by the department shall be deemed to be contraband and shall be subject to immediate seizure. The seized cigarettes may be destroyed by the Commonwealth ten days after written notice of such seizure is given to the manufacturer. The manufacturer may inspect such seized cigarettes during that ten-day period.
(5) Any cigarettes that have been sold or offered for sale that do not comply with the performance standard required under this act shall be deemed to be contraband and shall be subject to seizure by the Commonwealth, provided that the Commonwealth gives written notice to the manufacturer ten days prior to seizure. The Commonwealth may apply for a court order to shorten this time period. The manufacturer may apply for a court order to prevent such seizure. If seized, the manufacturer shall have the opportunity to inspect and test such seized cigarettes and to appear in a forfeiture proceeding which will determine whether such cigarettes may be destroyed by the Commonwealth.
(b) Enforcement.--The department, the commissioner and the Office of Attorney General are authorized to enforce this act.
(c) Regulations.--The department and the commissioner may promulgate regulations as necessary to implement and administer this act.
(d) Memorandum of understanding.--The department may enter into a memorandum of understanding with the commissioner and the Attorney General to coordinate the random inspections of wholesale dealers, agents and retail dealers to ensure that only cigarettes complying with this act and related acts are sold in this Commonwealth.
(e) Injunctive relief.--In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the Attorney General may file an action in State court for a violation of this act, including petitioning for injunctive relief or to recover any costs or damages suffered by the Commonwealth because of a violation of this act, including enforcement costs relating to the specific violation and attorney fees. In any such action, the Attorney General shall have the same authority to investigate and to obtain remedies. Each violation of this section or of rules adopted under this section constitutes a separate civil violation for which the Attorney General may obtain relief.

Credits

2008, July 4, P.L. 518, No. 42, § 7.

Footnotes

35 P.S. § 1254.4.
35 P.S. § 1254.5.
35 P.S. § 1254.7, PA ST 35 P.S. § 1254.7
Current through the end of the 2023 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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