California Tobacco Directory Legislation & Regulations

Legislation Related to the California Tobacco Directory

• California Reserve Fund Statute
  The California Reserve Fund Statute, Health and Safety Code sections 104555-104557, requires tobacco product manufacturers whose Cigarettes are sold in California to either sign onto the Master Settlement Agreement ("MSA") or establish and properly fund a Qualified Escrow Fund to reflect the number of each manufacturer's Cigarettes sold in California. The Reserve Fund Statute also establishes penalties for noncompliance with its terms.
• California Complementary Legislation
  The California Complementary Legislation (or "directory law"), Revenue and Taxation Code section 30165.1, requires the Attorney General to publish a directory of tobacco product manufacturers and brand families of cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco that are lawful for sale in California. Any tobacco product manufacturer who wishes to sell its cigarettes or roll-your-own tobacco products in California must certify that it is in compliance with Health and Safety Code sections 104555-104557 and 14950-14959, Revenue and Taxation Code section 30165.1, Business and Professions Code section 22979, and the regulations implementing these statutes (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 11, ch. 16, §§ 999.10-999.29).
• California Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003
  The California Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act, Division 8.6 (commencing with section 22970) of the Business and Professions Code, requires cigarette and tobacco product manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers to be licensed by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and provides conditions for obtaining and maintaining such licenses.
• California Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act
  The California Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act, Health and Safety Code sections 14950-14959, prohibits a person from selling, offering, or possessing for sale in California any cigarettes not in compliance with the testing, performance standard, marking, and certification requirements of this statute.

Regulations Related to the California Tobacco Directory

Regulations that implement the California Tobacco Directory Law can be found at:

• California Code of Regulations, Title 11, Division 1, Chapter 16

The information below relates to rulemaking activity, including links to the regulations text and associated documents. Additionally, tips for making effective comments on regulations can be found here: Tips for Making Effective Comments, pdf. A person who has submitted a comment regarding a proposed action has the right to request a copy of the final statement of reasons.

NOTE: Regulation documents prepared by the Department may contain markup including underline, strikethrough, or highlight. While these documents are ADA-compliant, upon request, the Department can prepare a more screen reader-friendly version of these documents with annotations that explain the marked changes. Submit all requests to regulations@doj.ca.gov.

Completed California Tobacco Directory Regulations

2022 Tobacco Escrow Agreement Revision and Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Regulations

The rulemaking is complete. On December 28, 2023, the Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations and filed them with the Secretary of State.

• OAL Approval Letter
• Text of Amended Regulations
• Final Statement of Reasons
• Updated Informative Digest
• Form STD 399
• Forms Incorporated by Reference:
  • JUS-TOB6
  • JUS-TOB8
  • JUS-TOB15

Readoption of Emergency Regulations

• Finding of Emergency
• Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement (STD 399)
• Text of Proposed Regulations
• Forms Incorporated by Reference
• JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repeal
• JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Adopt
• JUS-TOB8 Brand List – Repeal
• JUS-TOB8 Brand List - Adopt
• JUS-TOB15 Fire Standard Compliant (FSC) Certification – Adopt

Notice of Modification of Proposed Forms and Regulations

• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
• Initial Statement of Reasons
• Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement (STD 399)
• Text of Proposed Regulations
• Forms Incorporated by Reference
• JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repeal
• JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Adopt
• JUS-TOB8 Brand List – Repeal
• JUS-TOB8 Brand List - Adopt
• JUS-TOB15 Fire Standard Compliant (FSC) Certification – Adopt

Emergency Regulations: June 19, 2023

• Notice of Approval of Emergency Regulatory Action
• Finding of Emergency
• Economic and Fiscal Impact Statement (STD 399)
• Text of Proposed Regulations
• Forms Incorporated by Reference
  • JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Repeal
  • JUS-TOB6 Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Adopt
  • JUS-TOB8 Brand List - Repeal
  • JUS-TOB8 Brand List - Adopt
  • JUS-TOB15 Fire Standard Compliant (“FSC”) Certification - Adopt

Revised Tobacco Directory Forms

The rulemaking is complete. On May 19, 2022, the Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations and filed them with the Secretary of State.

• OAL Approval Letter, pdf
• Text of Proposed Amended Regulations, pdf
• Final Statement of Reasons, pdf
• Updated Informative Digest, pdf
• Forms Incorporated by Reference:
  • JUS-TOB1, pdf
  • JUS-TOB3, pdf
  • JUS-TOB4, pdf
  • JUS-TOB5, pdf
  • JUS-TOB7, pdf
  • JUS-TOB8, pdf

Notice of Second Modification to Text of Proposed Amended Regulations and Forms

• Supplement to Initial Statement of Reasons
• Modified Proposed Amended Regulations
• Form JUS-TOB1 (Rev. 11.21) – Adopt
• Form JUS-TOB3 (Rev. 11.21) – Adopt
• Form JUS-TOB4 (Rev. 11.21) – Adopt
• Form JUS-TOB4 (Rev. 09.20) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB4 (Rev. 02.11) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB5 (Rev. 11.21) – Adopt
• Form JUS-TOB5 (Rev. 04/04) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB8 (Rev. 11/21) – Adopt
• Form JUS-TOB8 (Rev. 03/21) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB8 (Rev. 02/04) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB15 (Rev. 03/21) – Repeal
• Form JUS-TOB15 (Rev. 02/11) – Repeal

Notice of Modification to Proposed Forms

• JUS-TOB1 (Rev. 03/2021)
• JUS-TOB5 (Rev. 03/2021)
• JUS-TOB8 (Rev. 03/2021)
• JUS-TOB15 (Rev. 03/2021)

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Text of Proposed Amended Regulations
Form JUS-TOB1 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB1 (Repeal)
Form JUS-TOB3 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB3 (Repeal)
Form JUS-TOB4 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB4 (Repeal)
Form JUS-TOB5 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB5 (Repeal)
Form JUS-TOB7 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB8 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB8 (Repeal)
Form JUS-TOB15 (Adopt)
Form JUS-TOB15 (Repeal)
Initial Statement of Reasons
Form STD 399
Form STD 400
Tips for Effective Comments

2019 Tobacco Escrow Agreement Revision

This rulemaking is complete. On December 26, 2019, the Office of Administrative Law approved the Department of Justice’s regulations regarding tobacco escrow agreements and filed them with the Secretary of State.

Certificate of Compliance Notice

• Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Notice of Approval of Certificate of Compliance
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Final Regulation
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Final Statement of Reasons
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement - Updated Informative Digest
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Proposed Rule Making
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Initial Statement of Reasons
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Proposed Text
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repealed Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 400
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 399

Tobacco Escrow Agreement Second Emergency Re-Adoption October 7, 2019

• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Emergency Action
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Finding of Emergency
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Proposed Text
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repealed Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 399 12/19/18
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Approval of Emergency Regulatory Action

Tobacco Escrow Agreement First Emergency Re-Adoption July 2, 2019

• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Emergency Action
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Finding of Emergency
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Proposed Text
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repealed Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 399 12/19/18
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Approval of Emergency Regulatory Action

Tobacco Escrow Agreement January 8, 2019

• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Emergency Action
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Finding of Emergency
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Proposed Text
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Approved Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Repealed Tobacco Escrow Agreement
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 399 12/19/18
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – STD 400 12/19/18
• Tobacco Escrow Agreement – Notice of Approval of Emergency Regulatory Action