Philip Morris International has joined the We Card Program, a national nonprofit serving the nation’s retailers of age-restricted products. The company’s Swedish Match affiliate will serve on We Card’s manufacturer advisory council.
Independent retail establishments and large retail chains utilize We Card’s educational and training services for their compliance efforts with federal, state and local laws aimed at preventing age-restricted product sales to minors.
National and state retail trade associations, government officials, community groups and others also support We Card’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness of responsible retailing and age verification requirements and to educate and train retail employees to identify and prevent underage attempts to purchase age-restricted products.
“As we enter the U.S. market, our ambition is twofold: to be the market leader across America for innovative smoke-free products that are a better choice than continued cigarette use and to ensure that youth cannot access these products, which are intended only for adults who smoke or use another nicotine product,” said Stacey Kennedy, president of the Americas and CEO of the PMI U.S. business. “Joining We Card reflects the commitment shared by PMI and Swedish Match to further enhance youth access prevention programs in close cooperation with our retail partners.”
“The We Card Program has long been a vital tool for retailers, and we look forward to working with them to expand the program’s suite of tools to reflect the growing range of innovative nicotine products, including oral pouches,” Kennedy added.
“We Card is pleased to have Swedish Match join our manufacturer advisory council. This will help us further our mission to prevent underage access to nicotine products and work to address the problem of the social sourcing of those products,” said Doug Anderson, president of the We Card Program.