Age & ID Verification:
- Customers must be 18 to purchase covered tobacco products;
- Retailers must verify the age and identification of any customer under 27;
- Vending machine sales of covered products are prohibited unless it is in a facility where the age of patrons is verified at 18 and above;
- Retailers should have an age verification policy in place for employees that covers both federal AND state/local requirements.
- IPCPR has provided a sample policy for retailers to review.
Sampling:
- Retailers are prohibited from providing “free samples” of cigars or other covered tobacco products to customers;
- Business-to-Business (B2B) samples are allowed in “limited quantity”;
- Reward programs, coupons and buy-one, get-one (bogo) deals are allowed…with restrictions;
- IPCPR has previously provided guidance to this point.
Warning Labels:
- Warning label requirements are not currently in-effect and are delayed pending further legal proceedings in federal court;
- IPCPR urges retailers to remain familiar with requirements concerning warning labels on packaging and advertising;
- IPCPR has provided guidance on warning plan and warning label requirements for packaging, advertising, and social media use;
- As a membership service, IPCPR has provided an FDA-approved warning plan which retailers can log into their account and opt in to.
FDA & CTP “This is Our Watch”
- CTP has provided physical and digital print materials to tobacco retailers around the country;
- The materials include age verification calendars, flyers, tent cards and stickers that are listed on their website.
For all the latest news from IPCPR, visit ipcpr.org.
