Convenience Retailers Invest in We Card
With the FDA increasing enforcement and compliance, retailers are taking steps to stop the illegal underage sale of tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
Feb 14, 2019
WASHINGTON – On February 11, the Food and Drug Administration cited new data from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, produced jointly with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on the “rampant rise of youth e-cigarette use, which has prompted the FDA to take a series of escalating regulatory actions” as part of its Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan.
On February 13, NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith shared with NACS retail members and state association executives that the FDA is aggressively pursuing minimum age sales compliance operations, and publicly announcing retailers who are not in compliance and discussing additional actions with state attorneys general. He also noted that retailers should be utilizing the most current training programs and are complying with minimum age sales laws.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has also indicated that the FDA may be contacting retailers in the coming days: “We’re also writing the corporate management of a number of large, national retail chains to discuss whether there is a corporate-wide issue related to their stores’ non-compliance and put them on notice that the FDA is considering additional corporate-wide enforcement avenues to address violative tobacco sales to youth, which have also included illegal sales of e-cigarettes to kids.”
NACS is a strong proponent of the We Card program to identify and deny any attempts by minors to purchase age-restricted products. NACS also encourages retailers to continue their efforts to successfully identify and prevent age-restricted product sales to minors.
Here are additional We Card resources:
- 2019 training materials
- Implement FDA compliant online training through 3 courses: Employee Training, Refresher Training and Manager Training
- Sign up for ID Check-Up: mystery shopping to make sure store staff is asking for and checking IDs.
- Check the Resource Center for updated state and federal law information.
- Access We Card NOW, a mobile site with digital resources, an age calculator tool and a digital version of the We Card calendar along with training tips.
