Bill > A5923

Introduced Session

This bill implements certain recommendations included in the Electronic Smoking Device Task Force Report issued October 3, 2019, pursuant to Executive Order No.84. In particular, this bill revises the requirements for the licensure and operation of vapor businesses, increases and expands the taxes imposed on vapor products, and establishes a tracking system for vapor products made available for sale in New Jersey. Specifically, current law places various requirements for licensure of vapor businesses in Chapter 40B of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes, which generally concerns the regulation of tobacco products other than cigarettes, such as cigars, pipe tobacco, and cigarillos. This bill would remove the vapor product provisions from Chapter 40B and recodify them as a new Chapter 40C in Title 54. The bill would further revise certain requirements for the licensure and operation of vapor businesses. Current law requires any entity that sells "container e-liquid" to be licensed as a vapor business. To be licensed, at least 50 percent of the entity's retail sales must be derived from electronic smoking devices, related accessories, and liquid nicotine. Container e-liquid is defined to mean any liquid nicotine that is not sold in a sealed cartridge or self-contained disposable electronic smoking device. The bill revises these licensure requirements to require licensure as a condition of selling electronic smoking devices and liquid nicotine cartridges as well. The bill changes the term "container e-liquid" to "non-cartridge vaping liquid" and adds a new definition of "liquid nicotine cartridge" to provide that the term means any sealed container or self-contained disposable electronic smoking device that contains vaping liquid containing nicotine, is not refillable, and is not intended to be opened by the consumer. The bill creates two types of vapor business licenses: basic vapor licenses for entities seeking to sell electronic smoking devices and liquid nicotine containers, and plenary vapor business licenses for entities seeking to sell non-cartridge vaping liquid. An entity will be required to hold a basic vapor business license as a condition of licensure as a plenary vapor business, and will additionally be required to derive at least 50 percent of its retail sales from vapor products. The current fee for a vapor business license is $50 per year; the bill provides that the fee for a basic vapor business will be $500 per year, and the fee for a plenary vaping retailer license will be an additional $500 per year. The bill further authorizes municipalities to assess an additional permit fee against vapor businesses, provided that the full amount of any permit fees collected, less administrative costs, are to be used to fund compliance inspections, including undercover compliance purchases, made by the local health agency. The bill requires the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury to provide a list of current vapor business licensees on its Internet website. The bill increases the tax on liquid nicotine cartridges from $0.10 per fluid milliliter to $0.20 per fluid milliliter, and the tax on non-cartridge vaping liquid from 10 percent of the retail sale price to 20 percent of the retail sale price. The bill also assesses a new 20 percent tax on the retail sale price of electronic smoking devices, except that electronic smoking devices that fall within the definition of "liquid nicotine cartridge," such as pre-filled, disposable devices, are subject to the $0.20 per fluid milliliter tax. Current law requires cigarette retail dealers to post signs advising that underage tobacco sales are prohibited, and that violators are subject to a fine of up to $1,000. The bill makes this signage requirement applicable to vapor businesses as well and updates the statutory language to reflect the increased penalties for selling tobacco and vapor products to persons under age 21 as will be established by companion legislation, which is currently pending as Assembly Bill No.5922. The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury will be required to establish a database that may be used to track all vapor products sold in New Jersey. Information in the database will be made available upon request to the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health, and the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety. At a minimum, the tracking database is to enable entities having regulatory authority over the sale of vapor products to verify that the product meets the requirements to be sold in New Jersey. Vapor product manufacturers will be required to upload to the database product certain information for each vapor product intended for sale in New Jersey. The director will also be required to develop a standardized tracking feature to be included on all vapor products sold in the State. The tracking feature may be a stamp issued by the division, a barcode imprinted on the vapor product by the manufacturer, or any other feature the director deems appropriate, provided that the feature is scannable and, when scanned, provides access to the product information for the vapor product included in the tracking database. Commencing 60 days after the date the feature is developed, manufacturers will be required to include the tracking feature on all vapor products sold in the State, and after that date no vapor product may be sold in New Jersey unless it includes the tracking feature. Current law provides that unlawfully possessed non-cartridge vaping liquid is prima facie contraband, subject to criminal forfeiture. The bill provides that unlawfully possessed electronic smoking devices and liquid nicotine cartridges are also prima facie contraband. The Commissioner of Health will be required to establish standards for compliance inspections, including undercover compliance purchases, conducted by the DOH and local health agencies. These requirements will include annual reporting on any compliance inspections conducted by the entity.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Herbert Conaway (D)*,  Yvonne Lopez (D)*,  Nancy Pinkin (D)*,  Daniel Benson (D),  Angelica Jimenez (D),  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D), 

Assembly Appropriations Hearing (19:00 1/9/2020 Revised -1/7/20 Time changed to 11:00 AM. A-1697/S-3036 (2R), A-) (on 01/09/2020)

Official Document