The purpose of this letter is to provide guidance to persons who sell, transfer, or ship for profit cigarettes or smokeless tobacco in interstate commerce or who advertise cigarettes or smokeless tobacco for such sale, transfer, or shipment on amendments to the Jenkins Act . 

Implementation of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 Regarding Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes or Smokeless Tobacco - Comments are due on or before October 26, 2010. To submit a comment electronically, use http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments by mail or fax, please see the instructions included within the notice. To view all comments and documents associated with this notice, go to http://www.regulations.gov and enter Notice No. 22P.

The PACT Act law went into effect on June 29, 2010. The PACT Act features several major components; it regulates the mailing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to consumers through the U.S. Postal Service; Registration, Reporting, Delivery requirements, recordkeeping, List of Unregistered or Non-Compliant Delivery Seller’s; increases penalties to a felony up to 3 years imprisonment and gives ATF inspection authority to examine any records required to be maintained and any cigarettes or smokeless kept on the premises.

The Department of Justice's response to comments received from the Federally recognized tribes after consultation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on the implications of ATF’s pending final rule, “Implementation of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 Regarding Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes or Smokeless Tobacco.”