Philip Morris USA supports programs and legislative efforts to prevent underage access to tobacco products at retail and through social sources.
We support the
We Card® program, which provides resources to retailers to help them prevent tobacco sales to underage purchasers.
We Card resources include training seminars, interactive online training, in-store signage and educational resources such as age verification calendars, tip sheets on how to spot fake IDs, and retailer knowledge tests.
Wholesale Trade Programs
We work with wholesalers to help their retail clients responsibly merchandise tobacco products. Under our Wholesale Leaders program, wholesalers provide their employees with
We Card training, distribute
We Card order forms to new stores, include the
We Card logo and contact information on all tobacco product invoices, and certify their compliance with these measures.
Retail Trade Programs
For over a decade, Philip Morris USA has supported underage retail access prevention initiatives as part of its voluntary retail trade program, Retail Leaders. To help keep tobacco products of kids’ reach, PM USA’s Retail Leaders program has required hundreds of thousands of participating retailers throughout the United States to merchandise cigarettes in a non-self-service manner. Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the marketing and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products at retail, and requires retailers to merchandise cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products in a non-self-service manner. In addition to requiring that retailers comply with applicable laws and regulations, the Retail Leaders program also incentivizes retailers to take additional measures that are not mandated by federal law, including:
- training store personnel who sell tobacco products using We Card or equivalent training;
- displaying We Card or equivalent signage;
- using an age verification tool;
- placing retail signage that tells adults not to buy tobacco products for kids;
- offering financial incentives to remove cigarettes and cigarette signage from certain areas of a retailer’s store, including the countertop; and
- adhering to the Master Settlement Agreement.
As of April 2011, about 86 percent of stores that are visited regularly by our field sales force participate in the Retail Leaders program and 93 percent displayed
We Card or equivalent signage.
Read More about PM USA's Retail Leaders program.
We provide retailers with signs that remind adults not to purchase any tobacco product for minors. Participants in PM USA’s Retail Leaders program are required to place this signage in their stores. As of April 2011, 85 percent of stores called on by our sales force displayed the social access signs.
Federal Legislation
In June 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given broad regulatory authority over cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. PM USA supported this legislation. The law gives FDA the authority to address a range of tobacco issues, including reducing underage tobacco use, encouraging cessation and communicating the health effects of tobacco products:
PM USA supported this legislation, and we will continue to evaluate our underage access prevention programs as these regulations are implemented.
State Legislation
For several years, PM USA has supported enactment of state youth access prevention legislation. Today, this legislation complements FDA’s authority. Among other things, such state legislation:
- prohibits anyone from purchasing tobacco products for, or distributing tobacco products to, a minor;
- prohibits the purchase or possession of tobacco products by minors or the use of false identification by a minor during an attempt to purchase tobacco products; and
- requires minimum-age-to-purchase signage at retail stores and valid proof-of-age for all tobacco product purchases.
In 2010, five states passed legislation, including provisions for non-self-service of tobacco products, which was identical or very similar to legislative provisions we support.
