AB 3218 - Unflavored Tobacco List

• Attorney General must establish and maintain an Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) by December 31, 2025, containing tobacco product brand styles that lack characterizing flavors.

• Manufacturers and importers must submit brand styles to the Attorney General with certification under penalty of perjury that products lack characterizing flavor, including initial application fees up to $1,000 per brand style and annual renewal fees up to $1,000.

• Distributors, wholesalers, and delivery sellers are prohibited from selling tobacco products not on the UTL or tobacco product flavor enhancers; retailers are prohibited from selling any products not on the list, with civil penalties ranging from $50 to $10,000 depending on violation history.

• California Tax and Fee Administration may seize flavored tobacco products from retailers with escalating penalties ($50 per package for first seizure, suspension for second, revocation for third) and may seize products from wholesalers with similar consequences.

• Attorney General may seek injunctive relief and civil penalties up to $50,000 against manufacturers or importers who falsely certify that a product lacks characterizing flavor, with recovered amounts deposited in the Public Rights Law Enforcement Special Fund.