UPS has joined FedEx in announcing it will end the shipping of vapes.
This announcement is in effect to the passage of the “vape mail” ban that will bring the shipping of vaping products by the U.S postal service to a screeching halt.
The ban will affect the shipping of vape products to both consumers and businesses.
Online vaping retailers are left confused, desperate to find a solution as the implications of the policy are bound to leave no major shipping service available for shipping and delivery of vape products to the consumer’s homes.
Although some vaping businesses have been told that their accounts would be shut down, others are told that the company’s tobacco and vapor product policy would not be changing anytime soon. The situation has left a lot of uncertainty especially as the policy has not been amended on the UPS website.
Earlier, FedEx had announced that it will end vapor product shipping, effective from March 1. DHL as well as the other major shipping service had also banned domestic retail shipments of e-cigarettes and all nicotine-containing products.
This new policy instructs that the U.S. Postal Service create rules within a time frame of 120 days restricting U.S. Mail delivery of all vaping products— whether nicotine is present in them or not. Retailers found the bill surprisingly broad, as it includes all vaping products.
This change will affect all vaping liquids, including those containing THC, nicotine, CBD, and other substances.
The postal service has however not begun the implementation of the new regulations. The current USPS rules let the producers and distributors ship cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to each other, but not directly to customers. If those rules begin to affect vaping products, vape retailers will still get vape receive products delivered to them, but individual customers will be unable to receive deliveries at home.
Not only are USPS deliveries of vaping products banned, the “Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act” forces vape product sellers into the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which is part of the larger federal Jenkins Act.
All packages that contain vaping or e-cigarette products will now have to be shipped by some other service outside of the U.S. Postal Service, leading to higher costs
The signature from an individual who is over 21 years of age is also required to receive the product.
Also, 90 days after the new rule is implemented, all Internet and mail order sellers will be obligated to file monthly reports to the state, local governments, and Native tribes revealing the identity, address, and product orders of all customer orders within their jurisdiction and pay any excise taxes that are owed.
The PACT Act now imposes some strict requirements on shippers of vaping products.
The shippers are required among other things to:
• Register with the U.S. Attorney General/ATF
• confirm the age of customers using the available database
•Use private shipping services that require an adult signature at the point of delivery.
Retailers who do not register or meet the requirements of the PACT Act are to be faced with serious penalties, including prison.
