About the Missouri Tobacco Directory

During the 2010 legislative session, the Missouri General Assembly passed Senate Bill 884, which relates to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and Missouri’s Tobacco Settlement Agreement Act. This legislation requires the Missouri Department of Revenue to establish and maintain a website directory of tobacco manufacturers whose cigarette and roll-your-own (RYO) brand families have been certified as approved to be sold in the state of Missouri.

Purpose of the Directory

The Department's tobacco directory lists tobacco manufacturers and brand families that have been approved as meeting Missouri’s certification requirements. Upon the implementation date of the directory, only cigarette and RYO brand families listed on the directory may be sold, offered or possessed for sale, or imported for personal consumption in Missouri. Anyone who knowingly sells, or offers to sell, owns, or distributes cigarettes or RYO that are not listed on the directory may be subject to civil and criminal penalties. It is also unlawful to affix a tax stamp on brand families that are not listed on the directory.

Directory Implementation Date

The directory becomes effective on January 1, 2011. Beginning on that date, it will be unlawful for any tobacco wholesaler or retailer to purchase from any tobacco product manufacturer any cigarette or brand family not listed in the directory. For existing inventory of any brand families not listed in the directory posted on January 1, 2011, Missouri wholesalers will have until February 1, 2011 to sell their inventory, while Missouri tobacco retailers will have until February 15, 2011 to sell their inventory.

Directory Updates and Electronic Notifications to Licensed Wholesalers

The Department will update the directory on the first day of each month to add or delete manufacturers or brand families that are newly certified or have been decertified or on an as-needed basis to make corrections. The Department will send notice of any changes to licensed Missouri wholesalers via email, to the address they provided to the Department on Form 5298 - Registration for Electronic Notification of Changes in the Missouri Tobacco Directory.

The directory shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month the directory is updated as it applies to tobacco wholesalers, and on the fifteenth day of the month following the month it is updated as it applies to tobacco retailers in order to allow wholesalers and retailers sufficient time to sell their inventory. If you are a Missouri cigarette or other tobacco products licensee, you are responsible for checking the most recent updates to this directory and any email notifications from the Department before you stamp cigarettes or pay the tax on RYO tobacco.

Certification Requirements

A Non-Participating Manufacturer (NPM) is any manufacturer of cigarettes or “roll-your-own” tobacco that is not a signatory to the Master Settlement Agreement. A manufacturer ceases to be a non-participating manufacturer upon entering into the Master Settlement Agreement.

Any NPM wishing to be included in the directory must submit Form 5304, Non-Participating Manufacturer Certification, and Form 5303, Non-Participating Manufacturer Brands Certification, Form 5302, Annual Escrow Compliance Certificate and Affidavit (Non-Participating Manufacturers) and all required supporting documents as indicated on the certification forms.

A Participating Manufacturer (PM) is any tobacco product manufacturer that has agreed to be bound by the payment and public health restrictions set forth in the Master Settlement Agreement.

To be listed on the Missouri Tobacco Directory, PMs must submit Form 5305, Participating Manufacturer Certification, and Form 5301, Participating Manufacturer Brands Certification, and all required supporting documents as indicated on the certification forms.

Beginning in 2011, participating and non-participating manufacturers must annually submit the appropriate certification by April 30. If at any time during the year a participating manufacturer or a non-participating manufacturer wishes to add a brand family for sale in Missouri, it must submit a supplemental certification form and list of brands.

Additional Information in the Directory

Effective January 31, 2011, this directory will list all tobacco product manufacturers, their brand families, and brand styles that can be legally sold under the Missouri Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act. This act, enacted in 2009, imposes fire safety requirements on all cigarettes sold in Missouri after January 1, 2011.

Wholesalers or retailers may continue to sell their existing inventory of cigarettes that are not listed in the directory provided that they can establish that the inventory was purchased and the state stamps were affixed prior to January 1, 2011. Any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other person that knowingly sells or offers to sell cigarettes in violation of this act is subject to civil penalties.

Contact Information

Missouri Tobacco Directory – Contact the Excise Tax Section at 573-751-7163 or send an email to DOR.Tobacco@dor.mo.gov.

Fire Standard Compliance (FSC) Cigarette Program – Contact Missouri Division of Fire Safety at 573-522-6207 or send an email to fscc@dfs.dps.mo.gov.