The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) kicked off the new year by announcing its enforcement priorities for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), a market that has seen considerable growth in the past several years, both in share and, unfortunately, underage use. A dramatic increase in underage vaping statistics has prompted the FDA to amplify vape regulations, building off the general legal framework for tobacco products.
In our last blog, we covered specific product types the FDA’s new enforcement policy will target, such as pods and cartridge-based devices, which have been found to be popular among underage users, and an overview of the policy's key points. One highlighted in the policy was preventing access to ENDS. One guideline emphasized the importance of adequate age verification at checkout to block underage sales. AgeChecker.net's implementation at checkout demonstrates an example of adequate age verification per the FDA's description.
However, youth use prevention must start well before checkout, according to the FDA, and the onus is on manufacturers and distributors.
Vape retailers are not only responsible for declining purchases attempted by minors, but also preventing minors from entering their business and accessing any other touchpoints such as email advertising, social media accounts, and other content. Essentially, the FDA wants to minimize any kind of contact between age-restricted businesses and minors. Minors are anyone under the age of 21 per the new minimum age requirement enacted on December 20th, 2019.
The FDA policy describes products subject to enforcement, including: "All other ENDS products for which the manufacturer has failed to take (or is failing to take) adequate measures to prevent minors’ access." To read the full policy on FDA.gov, click here.
For a brick-and-mortar store, this typically looks like ID checks at the door to make sure only adults may enter. For an ecommerce website, it comes in the form of an online age verification requirement for all site visitors to determine their eligibility to access even your homepage, regardless of if they purchase or not. Using a full age verification solution, rather than an age gate that allows the customer to check a box or enter any age to proceed, businesses are able to block underage access in accordance with the FDA's latest recommendations.
AgeChecker.net is constantly developing new features to facilitate website compliance with new rules, best practices, and regulations. As the FDA plans to strengthen its enforcement efforts in regard to site accessibility this year, we provide websites with a simple yet effective solution to keep their compliance up to date.
AgeChecker.net may be implemented as a qualifying step before new customer registration or account creation, allowing those of legal age to register while denying access to those who do not meet your minimum age requirement.
Instead of an age gate, but the same in appearance, our full age verification comes into play by prompting date of birth and automatically retrieving customer name and address from your registration form. This customer data is cross-referenced against extensive U.S. identity networks, public records, and our own database of previously verified customers. Over 90% of U.S. customers will be instantly verified.
If we are unable to find a match, we will prompt the customer to submit a legally acceptable ID, which is manually verified by our 24/7 live team in under a minute. Customers who submit an ID and are approved will be instantly verified for future purchases if they use the same order information.
Typically, our age verification process happens in the background as customers check out, but in light of the FDA’s new enforcement policy more businesses are requiring age verification up front. As the FDA and other government entities tighten regulations, pre-registration age verification improves your compliance with current FDA guidelines and your readiness for whatever comes next. And as we’ve seen in the past several years, proposals become law quite quickly in the vape industry as regulators work to curb underage use.
AgeChecker.net offers a variety of integration options to meet specific business needs. For more information, please contact us.
