We Card Awareness Month - As FDA Steps Up Enforcement, Awareness Month is a Good Time for Retailers to Renew Training and Improve Compliance

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- We Card's message to retailers is to ramp up and renew training and compliance efforts during We Card's 11^th National Awareness Month in September as FDA steps up enforcement activities. 

The We Card Program, now in its 28^th year – is highlighting steps retailers can take to make sure they're doing all they can to identify and deny underage purchase attempts of tobacco and vapor products.

"September's We Card Awareness Month is the time to ramp up and renew retailer compliance efforts on federal law and FDA requirements as well as state and local requirements for responsibly retailing age-restricted products," said Lyle Beckwith, Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and a We Card founding board member.

"We Card has always been a collective effort across all retail trade categories and public awareness raising efforts, such as Governor's Proclamations and Letters of Support, are a key part of We Card Awareness Month. All September, we anticipate a rising tide of support for what is really the retailer community's year-round efforts of "carding" and preventing underage youth access to tobacco and vaping products. Governor's Proclamations from Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina have been issued in support of We Card Awareness Month and more are expected all throughout September," said Doug Anderson, president of The We Card Program, Inc.

We Card is asking retailers to take several key steps:

1. Make certain newly-hired employees are fully training and re-train veteran employees using comprehensive eLearning training – either store developed or offered through We Card. Courses should cover FDA requirements of retailers and state law requirements along with role playing practice at "carding" (or ID scanning if that's the store's practice). Equipping store personnel with "What to Say" phrases is key since a customer-service friendly way to both "card" and deny sales is important for both customers and employees.
   
   
2. Refresh training materials and in-store signage to ensure both the store and employees have the latest tools and information to prevent the underage sale of tobacco and vapor products. On September 1^st, retailers can order 2024 We Card materials, including the 2024 Renewal Kit and the 2024 We Card Age of Purchase Calendar.
   
   
3. Measure performance of both employees and the store through mystery shopping checks to confirm employees are properly "carding" or scanning IDs as required by store management. We Card's service, ID Check-Up, uses 21+ year old checkers with an online management reporting portal tool.
   
   
4. Double check overall store practices against We Card's Guide to Best Practices – complete a brief survey to download the free Guide.
   
   
5. Join We Card's new campaign to raise awareness of the underage access problem of "social sourcing" by ordering a free in-store campaign kit of materials. Research shows underage youth report getting access to tobacco and vaping products 80-90% of the time through social sources – the gifting, proxy purchase by another, or transfer from one to another, such as "bumming" or "borrowing." We Card's new campaign focuses on raising awareness of one element of the problem of social sourcing where those underage ask 21+ year old adults to buy or provide to them tobacco or vaping products. 

About We Card: The We Card Program, Inc. is a national non-profit organization that represents a unified effort among trade associations, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. It was created 28 years ago to support retailers of tobacco and other age-restricted products. Individual retail establishments as well as large retail chains use We Card's educational and training services to comply with federal and state laws while working to prevent underage tobacco, e-vapor and other age-restricted product sales. National and state retail trade associations, government officials, community groups and others also support We Card's ongoing efforts to educate and train retailers. For a full list of stakeholders actively supporting The We Card Program, visit wecard.org.

SOURCE The We Card Program, Inc