This chapter shall take effect on January 1, 2009, and the requirement that only cigarettes certified as compliant with the performance standard herein may be sold shall not prohibit wholesale dealers or retail dealers from selling their existing inventory of cigarettes on or after January 1, 2009, if the wholesale dealer or retailer can establish that state tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to January 1, 2009, and if such wholesale dealer or retailer can establish that such inventory was purchased prior to January 1, 2009, in comparable quantity to the inventory purchased during the same period of the prior year. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any person or entity from manufacturing or selling cigarettes that do not meet the requirements of § 7117 of this title if such cigarettes are or will be stamped for sale in another state or are packaged for sale outside the United States and has taken reasonable steps to ensure that such cigarettes will not be sold or offered for sale to persons located in this State.