The B2B shipping process is not intended to be convenient indeed, it was intended by Congress to be deliberately difficult. USPS says it is assigning additional personnel to help review B2B applications, and “will continue to explore the feasibility of digitizing the application process and may amend its rules appropriately at a later time.” But for the time being, applicants for B2B exemptions “should expect review of their applications to require potentially substantial processing time.” There is no grace period for compliance and no leeway for companies that have not been approved. Remember, these rules take effect immediately. No one knows how long it will take for hundreds of vape businesses to apply and be approved for a B2B exemption. The application process for B2B shipping is difficult, and is not going to be substantially streamlined or moved online, at least not anytime soon. However, using the service is an onerous process, and even if a company chooses to use USPS for shipping to shops or distributors, they will first have to be approved. USPS has simply applied its rules for business-to-business shipping of cigarettes to vaping products, as the agency indicated it would do in its proposed rule. It’s a moot point for now anyway, because Altria doesn’t sell IQOS products online. Essentially, USPS punts on this question and refers questions to the ATF, which enforces the PACT Act. They are considered drug paraphernalia intended to be used with federally controlled substances, and therefore “unmailable.”įor heated tobacco products (HTPs) like IQOS, it appears the devices may be exempt from the vape mail ban, but the refills (IQOS refills are called Heatsticks) probably qualify as cigarettes for purposes of PACT Act enforcement. USPS notes that products like dry herb vaporizers, intended to vape cannabis flower rather than “solutions” like e-liquid or oil, may not fit the POSECCA definition, but are already prohibited from the U.S. The rule also makes no distinction between products made for use with tobacco-derived or synthetic nicotine both are prohibited. Therefore, vaping devices used with cannabis oil or concentrates, and their components and parts, are banned from the mail, along with nicotine vaping products-including e-liquid. The law passed in December says that the Postal Service may not deliver to a residence “(1) any electronic device that, through an aerosolized solution, delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance to the user inhaling from the device and (2) any component, liquid, part, or accessory of an ENDS, regardless of whether sold separately from the device.” (Emphasis added.) There are no real surprises in the final rule. Much of the information in the final rule about application procedures for business-to-business shipping and product definitions is consistent with the USPS guidance document published in April. The agency got over 15,700 comments-many of them from vapers responding through CASAA’s call to action. The USPS rule was due on April 26 (120 days after Trump signed it into law), but USPS took the time to carefully read and respond to the comments it received during the rulemaking process. The PACT Act imposes strict requirements on shippers, and is enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In addition to banning vape mail, POSECCA forced vape shippers to comply with the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act-a law originally passed in 2009 that until now applied only to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. POSECCA was passed with no opposition and signed into law by President Trump last December as part of the federal budget bill. The new USPS rule, which will take effect immediately after publication in the Federal Register, will drastically change online sales and shipping of vaping devices and liquids.Īs mandated by Congress in the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act (POSECCA), the final rule will not contain any exceptions for residential delivery of either nicotine or cannabis vaping products (except within the states of Alaska and Hawaii).
21 that will end delivery of vaping products through the U.S. The United States Postal Service will issue a final rule Oct.
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