US Ban on Mailing E-Cigarettes Takes Effect, Small Retailers Face Bleak Outlook
After new rules banning the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from shipping vaping products took effect, the outlook for many small vape companies and online retailers looks bleak. Lawyers wrote about the impact of the latest amendment to the 2009 Prevent All Ci
After new rules were issued banning the United States Postal Service (USPS) from shipping e-cigarettes, the outlook for many small vape companies and online retailers appears bleak.
Attorneys wrote on a legal blog discussing the impact of the latest amendments to the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009.
In late December, former U.S. President Trump signed a $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law, and it included a provision banning USPS from shipping vaping products. Under the PACT Act, USPS had already been prohibited from shipping cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to consumers. The law passed in December expanded the Act’s original definition of “cigarettes” to include electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
Tobacco and vaping companies can use private carriers to ship their products to consumers, but the PACT Act requires them to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as with tobacco tax administrators in the states where shipments are made. Delivery sellers are also required to verify customers’ age and identity at the time of purchase and keep records of delivery sales for four years after the sale date, creating a significant administrative burden.
Critically for the e-cigarette industry, the most widely used carriers, FedEx and UPS, have recently announced that they will stop shipping all e-cigarette products.
The ban must be implemented within 120 days of the regulations being issued, which means by April 27, 2021.
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