FDA Releases Final Rule on ID Checks for Tobacco Sales

Tobacco retailers will soon have to look at a few more IDs of customers purchasing tobacco products now that FDA has issued a final rule on the matter.

The rule raises the minimum age for certain restrictions on tobacco product sales and enacts legislation — known as the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act — which was signed in December 2019. That law immediately raised the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products in the U.S. from 18 to 21. Once implemented, the requirements are expected to help decrease underage tobacco sales, the agency said Thursday.

Under the rule, which takes effect on September 30, retailers must verify with photo identification the age of anyone under the age of 30 who is trying to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, up from the current age of 27. “It’s important for retailers to request and examine photo IDs to verify age from anyone under 30, regardless of appearance, as research has shown that it is difficult for retailers to accurately determine the age of a customer from appearance alone,” the FDA said in a press release.

Also, retailers will no longer be allowed to sell tobacco products in vending machines in places where people under 21 are present or permitted to enter, according to the rule. This provision previously applied to businesses that served those under 18.

“Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” Brian King, PhD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in the release. “Decades of science have shown that keeping tobacco products away from youth is critical to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death.”

Thursday’s action is part of ongoing federal efforts to protect young people from accessing tobacco products, the agency noted. More than 95% of U.S. adults who smoke daily smoked their first cigarette by the age of 21. “Accordingly, the FDA continues to robustly enforce the federal minimum age of sale for tobacco products, including after the minimum age of sale was increased to 21,” the press release said, noting that to date, the agency has conducted more than 1.5 million compliance checks of tobacco retailers to ensure compliance with federal age restrictions. These inspections have resulted in 134,000 warning letters, more than 33,000 civil money penalties and 230 no-tobacco-sale orders for violations related to federal age restrictions.

The agency also is providing retailers with resources to help them comply with tobacco laws and regulations, including age-of-sale restrictions. Retailers can find information on tobacco products that may be legally marketed in the U.S. through the Searchable Tobacco Products Database.