ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Yesterday NACS and We Card hosted a webinar to help retailers navigate the Food and Drug Administration??s (FDA) Civil Monetary Penalty Process and better understand their responsibilities and compliance requirements when responding to tobacco violations.

Citing the overall recommendation for complying with FDA??s regulations, Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of government relations, advised retailers to ensure their employees are trained. "It??s vital to your company, your employees and your communities to make sure kids do not have access to tobacco products," he said.

Doug Anderson, president of The We Card Program Inc., gave an overview of the FDA??s enforcement activities and the steps retailers can take if they fail an FDA inspection. "The FDA promised enforcement, and they delivered it," he said, noting that FDA has so far contracted with 38 states and Washington, D.C., to conduct retailer inspections. Also, FDA has begun taking enforcement action against retailers in 23 states, and as of January 30, Civil Money Penalty complaints have been initiated against 29 retailers. It??s important that retailers continually view the FDA's compliance check findings online ?" FDA will not notify the stores where no violations are found.

Webinar participants asked questions ranging from age verification requirements, responding to FDA inspection violations and We Card??s tobacco training program, to name a few. Access the full March 14 presentation here.

During the Q&A, participants asked whether cigars could be self-service. NACS has verified that under current federal law, cigars can be self-service while cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products cannot. As always, you should check for state and local laws that may have additional restrictions. More in-depth coverage of the webinar Q&A will soon be available online and in an upcoming issue of NACS Magazine.