[§245-16]  Unlawful shipment of cigarettes;penalty; reports; liability for unpaid taxes.  (a)  A person or entitycommits the offense of unlawful shipment of cigarettes if the person or entityis engaged in the business of selling cigarettes and:

(1)  Ships or causes to be shipped any cigarettes to aperson or entity in this State that is not:

(A)  A licensee under this chapter; or

(B)  An export warehouse proprietor pursuant tochapter 52 of the Internal Revenue Code, or an operator of a customs bondedwarehouse pursuant to section 1311 or 1555 of Title 19 of the United StatesCode; or

(2)  Ships or causes to be shipped any cigarettes to aperson or entity in this State in any container or wrapping, other than thecigarette manufacturer's original container or wrapping, and the container orwrapping is not plainly and visibly marked with the word "cigarette".

(b)  This section shall not apply to theshipment of cigarettes if any of the following conditions are met:

(1)  The cigarettes are exempt from taxes as providedby section 245-3(b) or are otherwise exempt from the applicability of thischapter as provided by section 245-62;

(2)  All applicable Hawaii taxes on the cigarettes arepaid in accordance with the requirements of this chapter; or

(3)  The person or entity engaged in the business ofselling, advertising, or offering cigarettes for sale and transfer or shipment:

(A)  Has fully complied with all of therequirements of chapter 10A (commencing with section 375) of Title 15 of theUnited States Code, otherwise known as the Jenkins Act; and

(B)  Includes on the outside of the shippingcontainer an externally visible and easily legible notice located on the sameside of the shipping container as the address to which the shipping containeris delivered stating as follows:

"CIGARETTES:  HAWAII LAW PROHIBITSTHE SALE OF CIGARETTES TO INDIVIDUALS UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND REQUIRESTHE PAYMENT OF ALL APPLICABLE TAXES.  YOU ARE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLAPPLICABLE UNPAID TAXES ON THESE CIGARETTES."

(c)  Unlawful shipment of cigarettes is a classC felony if the person or entity knowingly ships or causes to be shipped onethousand or more cigarettes in violation of subsection (a).

(d)  Unlawful shipment of cigarettes is amisdemeanor if the person or entity knowingly ships or causes to be shippedless than one thousand cigarettes in violation of subsection (a).

(e)  For purposes of this section, a person orentity is a licensee if the person or entity's name appears on a list ofauthorized licensees published by the department.

(f)  Any person or entity that is required tocomply with the requirements of chapter 10A (commencing with section 375) ofTitle 15 of the United States Code, otherwise known as the Jenkins Act, shallfile such a report with the department on or before the tenth day of eachcalendar month.

(g)  Notwithstanding the existence of otherremedies at law, any person or entity that purchases, uses, controls, orpossesses any cigarettes for which the applicable taxes imposed under title 14,Hawaii Revised Statutes, have not been paid, shall be liable for the applicabletaxes, plus any penalty and interest as provided for by law. [L 2004, c 157,§2]