Senate Bill 5526 (69th Legislature, 2025) substantially revises Washington law governing tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products by amending multiple RCW sections and adding new sections to chapter 70.345 RCW. The bill requires valid licenses for retailers, distributors, and delivery sellers of vapor products, tightens age-verification (retailers must require specified photographic ID showing age and signature), and makes selling or giving tobacco, alternative nicotine, or vapor products to anyone under 21 a gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $5,000. The bill creates new procedural requirements for manufacturers of nicotine-containing vapor products: annual certifications to the Liquor and Cannabis Board (starting October 1, 2025), required product listings by brand/product/category/flavor, fees ($1,000 per product first submission; $500 for subsequent submissions), confidentiality protections for some FDA materials, prompt notice to the board of material changes, and a public online directory (required by January 1, 2026) listing certified manufacturers and products. The board must provide notice and an opportunity to cure before removing listings; the bill sets sell-off windows for retailers and distributors, authorizes seizure/forfeiture of unlisted or removed products, prescribes civil penalties for selling unlisted products with escalating fines and license suspensions/revocations, and subjects manufacturers offering unlisted products or submitting false certification information to significant penalties and misdemeanor charges. The bill also creates a vapor product enforcement account to receive fees and penalties and restricts its use to administration and enforcement, and it adds a new prohibition on selling products that contain a defined "nicotine analogue," imposing tiered monetary fines and license suspensions with revocation and a multi-year bar for repeated violations. It strengthens distributor recordkeeping (itemized invoices, inventory by brand, purchaser names/addresses preserved five years), authorizes warrantless inspections during business hours, authorizes sharing of information with other jurisdictions, and revises seizure/forfeiture procedures and disposition of sale proceeds. Several cross-referenced statutory provisions and some definitions are incomplete or missing from the extracted text. Notably, portions of the definition of "distributor" and other statutory subsections, the full text of certain amended RCW sections, and the ends of several listed provisions are not included here, so some procedural details and definitions cannot be fully described from the provided material.

If enacted, the bill creates a state-managed product registry for nicotine-containing vapor products and requires manufacturers to file annual, product-level certifications with fees ($1,000 first filing per product, $500 thereafter), or risk having their products excluded from a public directory that will determine what may legally be sold in Washington after set sell-off windows. Retailers, distributors, and wholesalers will have limited time to sell inventory of unlisted products (60 days after directory publication for most businesses; 30 days after removal for retailers) and face per-product civil penalties that escalate to license suspension or revocation for repeat violations; products sold or offered for sale while unlisted are treated as contraband and may be seized, with seizure and enforcement costs charged to the holder. Nonresident manufacturers must appoint an in-state agent and post a $25,000 surety bond; manufacturers that allow unlisted products on the market face $10,000 fines per product and criminal exposure for false certifications. The Liquor and Cannabis Board and the Department of Revenue gain ongoing enforcement duties, two required unannounced compliance checks per year for sellers, and a new vapor product enforcement account to receive fees and penalties to cover administration and enforcement without a separate appropriation. The groups most affected are manufacturers (higher compliance costs, filing fees, bonding and agent requirements, greater legal and financial risk if products are not certified), and retailers/distributors (new verification, recordkeeping for five years, inspection access without a warrant, liability for selling unlisted products, and exposure to escalating fines and license sanctions). The Liquor and Cannabis Board and Department of Revenue will need to operate the directory, run compliance checks, handle seizures, and report annually to the legislature, funded by collected fees and penalties. Important details remain unclear from the provided text—most notably the full statutory definition of “vapor products containing nicotine” and some incomplete sections—so the exact scope of covered products and certain enforcement procedures could change once those parts are available.