California's Unflavored Tobacco List

Who must list

Every manufacturer and every importer of tobacco products must submit to the Attorney General each brand style it makes or imports for sale in or into California that lacks a characterizing flavor, with a certification under penalty of perjury. The certification describes each brand style and product category, states whether FDA authorization has been sought and its status, and certifies that the product has no characterizing flavor.

A brand style is any version of a product within a brand that differs by weight, volume, size, UPC, SKU, nicotine content, flavor, logo, labeling, packaging or similar marks. Each one needs its own approved listing.

Submitters must consent to California court jurisdiction, appoint and identify a registered agent for service in California, and waive any sovereign immunity defense.

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(b), (i), (s)(1) Source

What counts as a tobacco product, and what is excluded

California defines tobacco product broadly: any product made or derived from tobacco or nicotine for human consumption, including cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and snuff; electronic devices that deliver nicotine or other vaporized liquids; and components, parts and accessories.

For the UTL, the term excludes three categories: loose-leaf tobacco (cut or shredded pipe tobacco usually sold in pouches), premium cigars, and shisha tobacco. Those products do not need a listing.

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.5(a)(17); 104559.1(s)(3) Source

The premium cigar exemption

A premium cigar must meet every part of the statutory definition. It must be handmade and not mass produced by mechanization, have a wrapper made entirely from whole tobacco leaf, and have a wholesale price of no less than $12. It must not have a filter, tip or non-tobacco mouthpiece, and it must be capped by hand.

A cigar that misses any element is an ordinary tobacco product. It needs its own UTL listing, and if it has a characterizing flavor it cannot be sold in California at all.

• Handmade, not mass produced by mechanization
• Wrapper entirely whole tobacco leaf
• Wholesale price of at least $12
• No filter, tip or non-tobacco mouthpiece
• Capped by hand

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.5(a)(13) Source

How to apply at utl.doj.ca.gov

Applications are filed through the Attorney General's UTL web portal. The applicant creates an account and uploads an authorization letter naming at least one Certifying User who can sign binding certifications. For each brand style the applicant completes a product form (or a shorter variant form for qualifying variants such as different pack counts, UPCs, promotional or export packaging), then submits a UTL application with a certification under penalty of perjury and pays the fee online.

The product form asks for packaging images or design files, product details and the FDA status of the brand style. The regulations provide for an Attorney General response (approval, denial or request for more information) generally within 90 days of a complete application. Changes to listed information must be reported, and some changes trigger a new application.

11 CCR 943-947, 952 Source

Fees and the April renewal window

Fees are set by regulation within a statutory cap of $1,000 per brand style. The initial application fee is $300 per brand style. Each variant listed on an application costs $150. The annual renewal fee is $150 per brand style. Fees apply to the fiscal year ending June 30 and are not prorated.

Any brand style on the list as of March 31 must be renewed through the portal between April 1 and April 15 of that year. A brand style whose renewal fee is not received by April 30 is subject to removal on or after June 30 of that fiscal year.

The permanent regulations (11 CCR 942-957) were approved by the Office of Administrative Law on June 19, 2026, replacing earlier emergency regulations.

• $300 per new brand style
• $150 per variant
• $150 annual renewal per brand style, filed April 1-15
• Renewal fee not received by April 30 leads to removal on or after June 30

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(k); 11 CCR 951, 954; OAL approval June 19, 2026 Source

What happens to unlisted products

Any brand style not on the UTL is deemed a flavored tobacco product. Retailers may not sell, offer or possess flavored products for sale, and distributors and wholesalers may not sell unlisted products to anyone for sale in California. Delivery sellers may not sell unlisted products to California consumers.

CDTFA states that it and other agencies may seize flavored products and flavor enhancers, impose fines, and suspend or revoke the licenses of repeat offenders. When the list was published, the Attorney General said that for products not on the list that are not obviously flavored, including hand-rolled leaf cigars, the Department of Justice intends initially to focus on educating manufacturers, while warning that unlisted products remain subject to seizure and penalties.

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(g), (o); 104559.5(b); CDTFA Special Notice L-1018 Source

Penalties for retailers, wholesalers and distributors

Distributors, wholesalers and delivery sellers face Attorney General civil penalties for each product sold in violation: up to $2,000 for a first violation, $3,500 for a second, $5,000 for a third, $6,500 for a fourth and $10,000 for a fifth or later violation within five years.

Retailers who sell flavored products are penalized under the Business and Professions Code 22958 schedule: $1,000 to $1,500 for a first violation, rising to at least $20,000 for five or more violations within five years. On a third, fourth or fifth violation CDTFA adds a $250 penalty and suspends or revokes the retailer's tobacco license. A manufacturer or importer that certifies a product as unflavored without a reasonable basis faces a civil penalty of up to $50,000 plus fees and costs.

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(n), (o)(3); 104559.5(f); Bus. & Prof. Code 22958 Source

Vapor products need FDA status

The Attorney General may decline to list, or may remove, any brand style that is required to have FDA marketing authorization under 21 U.S.C. 387e(j) or 387j and does not have it. The regulations make such a product ineligible unless it fits narrow pending-application conditions, for example a tobacco-derived nicotine product on the market by August 8, 2016 with an FDA application filed by September 9, 2020 that remains pending, or a non-tobacco nicotine product on the market by April 14, 2022 with an application filed by May 14, 2022 that remains pending.

Electronic devices sold without nicotine or e-liquid, and separately sold parts that contain no nicotine or liquid, cannot be submitted.

Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(e)-(f); 11 CCR 945(d), 948 Source