Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 119 relates to cigarettes, cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, and other tobacco products. It amends the Health and Safety Code to require a manufacturer of a tobacco product distributed in Texas to file annually with the Texas Department of Health a report on its ingredients. The report must list ingredients other than tobacco or water in descending order by weight, measure, or numerical count. The act does not require the disclosure of the specific amount, however, if an ingredient has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as safe when burned and inhaled. The annual report must contain also a nicotine yield rating in accordance with standards set by the department. Information in a report remains confidential if it is excepted from public disclosure under state or federal law or if the department finds no scientific basis to conclude that availability of the information could reduce risks to public health. No report information may be disclosed until the attorney general has advised the department, and if the attorney general finds that disclosure of particular information would be an unconstitutional taking of property, that information, too, remains confidential. The act gives the department discretion to establish when the annual reports are to be filed but does not require any reporting before 1998. It provides for injunctive relief if a manufacturer fails to file the report.