A U.S. appeals court has upheld federal regulators’ decision to place the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians on a noncompliance list over cigarette sales, ruling that the tribe’s remote transactions with retailers on other tribal lands qualify as off-reservation activity. The Ninth Circuit panel found that such sales fall under California’s state tax and licensing requirements, supporting enforcement actions by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The decision affirms the application of state-level tobacco regulations to certain intertribal sales conducted remotely, reinforcing regulatory oversight in cases where transactions extend beyond a tribe’s own territory.
