The “Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act” is the new law that will now force shippers of nicotine and cannabis vaping products to comply with the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which imposes stringent rules on online sellers. (The PACT Act is part of the larger federal Jenkins Act.)
Online retailers will be required to:
- Register with the U.S. Attorney General
- Verify age of customers using a commercially available database
- Use private shipping services that collect an adult signature at the point of delivery
- If selling in states that tax vaping products, sellers must register with the federal government and with the tobacco tax administrators of the states
- Collect all applicable local and state taxes, and affix any required tax stamps to the products sold
- Send each taxing state’s tax administrator a list of all transactions with customers in their state, including the names and addresses of each customer sold to, and the quantities and type of each product sold
- Maintain records for five years of any “delivery interrupted because the carrier or service determines or has reason to believe that the person ordering the delivery is in violation of the [PACT Act]”
Sellers who do not register or don’t comply with the shipping and reporting rules of the PACT Act are subject to severe penalties, including up to three years in prison.
The product definitions in the law appear to include e-liquid and devices that contain no nicotine, contain only CBD, or are designed to be used solely with THC oil. “The term ‘electronic nicotine delivery system’…means any electronic device that, through an aerosolized solution, delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance to the user,” it says.
The PACT Act provisions of the new law will take effect in 90 days. Online vape retailers and manufacturers who ship directly to customers will be studying the law with their lawyers in the coming weeks to determine if they’re able to meet the exacting requirements of shipping products that fall under the PACT Act.