New York Association of Convenience Stores

130 Washington Avenue, Suite 300, Albany NY 12210

TELEPHONE: (800) 33-NYACS or (518) 432-1400 FAX: (518) 432-7400

MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION

S.4150 by Senator Padavan

A.7166 by Member of Assembly Grannis

AN ACT AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the
executive law, in relation to requirements for fire safe cigarettes

The New York Association of Convenience Stores is a trade organization representing the interests of nearly 6,000 neighborhood mini-marts and convenience stores that are licensed by the State of New York to responsibly sell cigarettes to adult customers.

We respectfully but strongly disagree with the sponsors' assertions that additional labeling, enforcement agencies, and penalties are warranted now, less than a year after the "fire-safe" cigarette law was implemented, in order to make the statute effective.

We recall informing the Legislature when the original bill was introduced that it would have limited effect in reducing smoking-related fires since more than 40% of the cigarettes consumed by New Yorkers are purchased either from unlicensed, unregulated sources out of the reach of the fire-safe law or from neighboring states without such a law. The Legislature ignored that reality and proceeded with passage. Now, the authors of that legislation express dismay that smoking-related fires continue to kill and injure New Yorkers, which was entirely foreseeable.

We would argue that the special labeling prescribed by S.4150/A.7166 would actually increase the hazard of smoking-related fires. As the Sponsors Memo notes, the markings placed on cigarette packages denoting low-ignition propensity (LIP) product are subtle, such as an asterisk beside the UPC code on the side of the pack. The fact that cigarette packs looked virtually identical to the consumer when the transition to LIP occurred in June 2004 was key to preventing hundreds of thousands more brand-loyal New York smokers from shifting their purchases to alternative outlets selling non-LIP product with a greater fire risk.

The sponsors suggest that smokers want to know whether the cigarettes they buy comply with New York's fire safety standard. Based on our interaction with thousands of cigarette customers every day, they really don't care, as long as the brand they're used to smokes and tastes the same as it did before. If a new sticker about the LIP law alters the appearance of the pack, it will plant the suggestion with the consumer that the product itself may be altered, and we stand to lose more customers to the unlicensed, unregulated, non-fire-safe side of the street, further thwarting the intent of the existing law.

Adding the Department of Health and the Department of Taxation and Finance to the list of agencies that can enforce the law is unwarranted piling on. Who's next, the National Guard? And there is no documented pattern of widespread willful violations on the part of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers that necessitates increasing penalties to the point of license suspension.

For these reasons, we oppose passage of S.4150/A.7166.

James S. Calvin

President, NYACS

June 22, 2005