Newly Deemed Tobacco Products Added to Retailer Materials

ARLINGTON, Va. — With federal regulations now covering all tobacco products, new signage and materials are available to retailers.

The change comes a month after the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) deeming rule went into effect on Aug. 8. The rule extends the agency's regulatory authority to electronic cigarettes, cigars, hookah and pipe tobacco.

"The FDA's focus on these new products is a perfect opportunity to re-invigorate retailers' store-level efforts on preventing illegal sales and their commitment to compliance," said Doug Anderson, president of We Card.

In fact, as CSNews Online previously reported, the FDA began enforcement of the new regulations and issued warning letters to 55 tobacco retailers for selling the newly regulation tobacco products — including electronic cigarettes, cigars and e-liquids — to minors. 

With the new FDA regulations governing e-vapor products and e-cigarettes, We Card has created in-store materials and tools that include:

• New "Under 18, No E-Vapor: WE CARD" in-store signage;
• A new in-store E-Vapor kit of resources that is especially suited for "vape" stores who are new to the concept of handling age-restricted product sales; and
• An "E-Cig and Vapor Central" dedicated home on wecard.org where resources can be quickly found, ordered and used.

The new materials comes as We Card, a non-profit organization that represents a unified effort among trade associations, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers to compliance, celebrates We Card Awareness month. 

Governors from Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Rhode Island and West Virginia have issued Governor's Proclamations or Letters of Support for We Card Awareness Month and more governors are expected to do so this month.

We Card Awareness Month aims to boost retailer commitment to compliance along with the availability of 2017 training and materials. Right after Labor Day, retailers prepare for the coming year by ordering We Card in-store materials and lining up their employees for We Card's online training courses.

"We Card is a critical training-and-education resource for convenience stores and one of the main reasons 'carding' and responsible retailing is a mainstream business function today for all age-restricted products," said Lyle Beckwith, senior vice president of government relations for NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing.