As you may know, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act – or PACT Act – is scheduled to take effect on June 29th.  While some provisions of the bill – such as the ban on U.S. Postal Service delivery of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco – have already had final rules published in the Federal Register, no guidance has been issued on other provisions of the new law. 

Specifically, a provision of the PACT Act indicates that distributors may need to register – one time only – with the U.S. Attorney General’s office.  No reporting would be required – just a one-time registration with the U.S. AG’s office.  However, to date, no guidance or issuance of proposed regulations on this provision have been forthcoming.  Anne Holloway recently spoke with Chris Perez – the Bureau Chief for the ATF office in charge of implementing this particular provision of the new law – who acknowledged that the agency is behind in getting out guidance on this issue but indicated that a proposed rule and guidance should be coming in the next few weeks.

There seems to be some confusion regarding whether or not distributors will actually need to register with the U.S. Attorney General’s office.  AWMA is in the process of trying to get clarification on this particular provision.  However, in the meantime, AWMA’s counsel suggests that members may wish to go ahead and simply register with the U.S. Attorney General’s office in light of the fact that this new law officially takes effect on June 29th and the agency may not have issued a guidance or proposed rule by that date.  

If any of our AWMA members wish to be pro-active on this issue, Chris Perez with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has offered the following information which would be helpful in registering.  Mr. Perez encourages members to register using certified mail although he indicates this is not required.  Mr. Perez also stated that the Bureau hopes to have a formal registration form issued soon but meantime for those wishing to register before the June 29th effective date they may do the following:

Using company letterhead if possible, please provide the following information:

• Name of your company and Trade name if any
• Address of your principle place of business & addresses of any other place of business that you have in any other states or localities
  
• Telephone numbers for each of your businesses along with a principle email address and any website addresses
  
• Name, address and telephone number of the agent or agents working as contacts for your business or businesses in the principle place of business and the states where you ship
  

Our members can mail this information directly to:
ATF
Attn. Alcohol & Tobacco Diversion Division
99 New York Avenue NE
Suite 7-S-233
Washington, DC  20226

As soon as AWMA receives clarification on this issue of registration we will notify our members.  There seems to be some discrepancy between certain portions of the law as written that may necessitate a technical correction.  However, AWMA wants to make sure our members are aware of this confusion and provide them the opportunity to act in a way that would ultimately benefit and protect their business.