Tag: U.S. Postal Service

Postal Service Settles Tobacco Shipments Suit

Photo: will milne
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has settled a lawsuit brought by New York City and four states over illegal cigarette shipments, reports AP News. The suit was originally filed in 2019 by the city and California. Connecticut, Illinois and Pennsylvania joined the case in 2020.
The plaintiffs contended that the Postal Service wasn’t doing enough to enforce the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) law of 2010, which prohibits the mailing of cigarettes in most cases.
In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said tens of thousands of packages sent from other countries instead made it through the postal system for delivery, and said when packages were found, the agency would return them to senders instead of destroying them.
As part of the settlement, the USPS agreed to take steps to make sure it was complying with the PACT Act, including enhancing how it carried out screenings to find contraband packages as well as develop training for employees.
The agency also agreed to destroy cigarette packages instead of mailing them back to the senders and issuing letters to the senders that cigarettes can’t be mailed.
“We were not going to stand idly by as foreign shippers circumvented federal law in an effort to avoid billions in taxes and hook underage kids on nicotine,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a statement.
The Postal Service said while it “considers that it has always been in full compliance with federal law regarding the handling of cigarette packages in international mail, we do support the goals of the settlement agreement, and for that reason, we have decided to resolve this lawsuit and to work cooperatively with all of the parties to this case to advance those goals.”
The “settlement forces the U.S. Postal Service to do its job to stop the flow of foreign contraband cigarettes into the United States,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. “These smuggled cigarettes cost all states, including Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tax revenue and hinder smoking cessation efforts.”
August 2, 2022
Bantam Vape Exempted from Shipping Ban

Photo: Bantam Vape
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has granted Bantam Vape an exception from its ban on shipping vapor products. Bantam Vape will be allowed to ship its e-liquid products to select vape retailers and distributors throughout the United States.
The postal service’s decision comes in response to Bantam’s application for a business purposes exception to the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which was amended by Congress on Dec. 27, 2020, prohibiting the shipment of e-cigarettes and vapor products through the USPS.
“Bantam’s ability to reengage USPS as a shipper of our high-quality, flavor-filled e-liquids allows us to more effectively serve our trusted retail and distribution partners,” said Bantam spokesperson Anthony Dillon. “Utilizing USPS as an alternative shipping channel provides our business-to-business customers with increased purchase order flexibility and decreased shipping timelines and costs.”
Bantam provided the USPS with the necessary documentation to obtain its exception to the PACT Act prohibition against shipment of vapor products through the USPS. This included submission of applicable state and federal permits and licenses for both Bantam and its customers named in the application.
“We thank USPS for processing our application in a timely manner and in helping us deliver alternatives to combustible cigarettes to our customers across the U.S.,” said Dillon. “As we continue to grow our brand’s customer base, Bantam is committed to adding retailers and distributors to the list of those we can ship to using USPS.”
March 8, 2022
Halo Exempted From Vape Mail Ban

Photo: will milne
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has granted Pure Labs permission to ship its Halo brand of vaping products to compliant businesses through the brand’s Master Distributors, Syndicate Global Distribution and Halo Wholesale Direct.
The approval constitutes a regulatory exception to the mailing restrictions described in the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act.
The original PACT Act was amended by Congress on Dec. 27, 2020, to incorporate e-cigarettes and vaping products.
“This is a huge win for Halo and for all of our retail partners,” said Kevin Dietz, director of Halo brand sales, in a statement. “Halo’s tobacco and menthol vape products are in demand by adult consumers throughout the country, and we are excited to have USPS solidify the supply chain. Halo has been here from the start and has numerous ENDS products in the final stage required for FDA authorization, furthering Halo’s commitment to remain America’s No. 1 tobacco-flavored e-liquid brand.”
In December, Turning Point Brands received a USPS exemption to ship vapor products to age-restricted vape shops across the United States through VaporBeast and other websites.
January 31, 2022
U.S. Vapor Product Mail Ban Takes Effect
Photo: will milne
The ban on mailing vapor products through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) takes effect Oct 20. The USPS has posted for public inspection its rules for mailing e-cigarettes with the Federal Register.
The rules don’t exempt cannabis vapor products, as many in the industry had hoped. The USPS is leaving it up to the U.S. Congress to carve out an exemption for hemp-based vaping products.
Under the new rules, retail customers will no longer be able to receive vapor products by way of USPS delivery. However, USPS will still mail vapor products under narrowly defined circumstances:
Noncontiguous states: intrastate shipments within Alaska or Hawaii
Business/regulatory purposes: shipments transmitted between verified and authorized tobacco industry businesses for business purposes, or between such businesses and federal or state agencies for regulatory purposes
Certain individuals: lightweight shipments mailed between adult individuals, limited to 10 per 30-day period
Consumer testing: limited shipments of cigarettes sent by verified and authorized manufacturers to adult smokers for consumer testing purposes
Public health: limited shipments by federal agencies for public health purposes under similar rules applied to manufacturers conducting consumer testing
The rules were originally set to into effect in March and then April; however, the USPS held back publishing the rule pending review.
October 20, 2021
Postal Service Publishes E-Cig Mailing Guidance

Photo: Sean Locke Photography
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has published its guidance for mailing vaping products in the Federal Register. The notice provides some clarity on USPS policy and outlined potential exceptions, which could include legal hemp and its derivatives.
Until the final rule is issued, ENDS are not subject to the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act. The USPS suggests it may exempt cannabis products, but also says that it will not review any exemption applications before the rule is finalized. The agency did, however, state that it has attempted to streamline the application process.
“The Postal Service understands that those concerns are heightened by Congress’s decision to make ENDS nonmailable immediately upon publication of the final rule, rather than applying the 30-day notice period that typically follows a final rule under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the USPS wrote. “
If any of the relevant exceptions are ultimately made available, then, given the highly decentralized nature of the ENDS industry relative to the industries historically covered by the PACT Act, the Postal Service anticipates receiving ENDS-related exception applications at a rate several orders of magnitude above the historic norm.
U.S. Postal Service
“Therefore, this document is intended to clarify the state of the exception application process in advance of the final rule and to provide guidance to mailers interested in availing themselves of any exceptions that may ultimately be made available.”
The USPS anticipates many applications for exemption to its mail ban. “If any of the relevant exceptions are ultimately made available for [electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)], then, given the highly decentralized nature of the ENDS industry relative to the industries historically covered by the PACT Act, the Postal Service anticipates receiving ENDS-related exception applications at a rate several orders of magnitude above the historic norm,” the guidance reads.
The USPS mail ban is only one of several challenges to the vapor business created by the recent legislation. Among other requirements, the PACT Act also stipulates that manufacturers register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives (ATF), as well as file monthly reports with state tobacco tax administrators.
Recipients of all vaping products purchased online are now required to present ID and sign for their delivery, regardless of the carrier. Many states are expecting businesses to start filing monthly reports on May 10 and the USPS is expecting to post the final rule and officially end the mailing of ENDS products to consumers on April 27.
April 22, 2021
Mail Ban Forces Vape Shops Out of Business

Photo: Ian Allenden | Dreamstime.com
The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children (PACT) Act has forced many companies to discontinue U.S. online sales and even cease operations altogether. Among the most recent vape shops to announce the end of their business are Elevated Vaping in Houston, Texas, and the Vape Spot in Los Angeles, California.
Earlier, Securience, parent to DuraSmoke, announced a merger with VapinDirect to stay in business. Logic will end all online sales on March 16. White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes said it would end all online U.S. sales on March 26. Vapewild and Vistavape, too, announced that they would be closing shop.
Even companies overseas reported supply chain disruptions as a result of the U.S. mail ban.
“If the increase in shipping costs wasn’t enough, the bill also imposes huge paperwork burdens on small retailers and backs it up with threats of imprisonment for even innocent mistakes,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “This is not a law designed to regulate the mail-order sale of vaping products to adults; it’s an attempt to eliminate it.”

The bill also imposes huge paperwork burdens on small retailers and backs it up with threats of imprisonment for even innocent mistakes.
Gregory Conley, president, American Vaping Association
Effective March 28, 2021, recipients of all vaping products purchased online will be required by law to present ID and sign for their delivery. The U.S. Postal Service ban on mailing vaping products will go into effect on April 27, 2021. After this date, customers will no longer be able to receive vaping products by way of USPS delivery.
Many private shipping companies—which often rely on the USPS for so-called last-mile deliveries—will no longer deliver vapor products. “Effective April 5, 2021, UPS will not transport vaping products to, from or within the United States due to the increased complexity to ship those products,” said UPS spokesperson Matthew O’Connor.
FedEx stopped accepting vapor products for delivery on March 1, 2021. DHL had already previously banned all shipments of nicotine-containing products and has now also ended all cannabis vapor product shipments.
Writing in the National Review, Michelle Minton, a senior fellow specializing in consumer policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, recently cautioned that the USPS mail ban would boost sales of traditional cigarettes.
March 15, 2021
White Cloud Ends Online Sales Due to Mail Ban

Photo: White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes
White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes, a stalwart in the vaping industry, will end all online sales for U.S. customers after the U.S. Postal Service stops shipping e-cigarettes on March 26. In a post on its Facebook page, the vapor company said that it will continue to fill international orders and will post a list of retail stores that will still carry White Cloud products in the U.S.
“This was not a decision we wanted to make, especially after putting so much effort into submitting our PMTAs to the FDA and ensuring our products never reached the hands of minors,” the company wrote on Facebook. “But, after spending the last couple of months searching for a solution to the vape mail ban, we’ve reached the end of all possible options, and there is simply nothing we can do to continue shipping domestically.
This was not a decision we wanted to make, especially after putting so much effort into submitting our PMTAs to the FDA.
White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes
White Cloud asked vapor industry advocates to send a message to Congress and support the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) in its efforts to protect consumers’ right to access reduced harm alternatives. CASAA has organized a campaign to fight the U.S. mail ban.
White Cloud is not the first vapor company to suffer from the shipping ban. In March, Logic said it would end online sales of its e-cigarettes to U.S. customers. Securience announced a merger with VapinDirect to better cope with the shipping restrictions. Lizard Juice e-liquids also said it would stop mailing products to consumers.
March 11, 2021
Minton: Mail Ban Will Benefit Cigarettes
The U.S. Postal Service’s pending ban on shipping e-cigarettes, scheduled to take effect at the end of March, will likely drive vapers back to cigarettes, according to Michelle Minton, a senior fellow specializing in consumer policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.

The real goal is to hurt the legal vaping industry.

Michelle Minton
Writing in the National Review, Minton cautioned against the unintended consequences of the measure. “Supporters of the law seem to think that if they force adults to quit vaping, they will simply quit using nicotine altogether. They’re dead wrong,” she wrote.
Minton also noted that e-cigarette manufacturers cannot simply switch to private carriers, such as FedEx or UPS, because these companies don’t deliver to all addresses, particularly in rural areas. “Private carriers actually rely on USPS to make ‘last mile’ deliveries,” she wrote.
Minton said that there are less extreme approaches to stop underage consumers from illegally purchasing nicotine products online, including ID checks on delivery. But reducing underage access is not the purpose of the law, she suggested. “The real goal is to hurt the legal vaping industry.”
March 11, 2021
U.S. Vapor Mail Ban Reverberates Worldwide

Photo courtesy of UKVIA
The impact of the pending U.S. restrictions on shipping vapor products is being felt internationally. The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), for example, has expressed “deep concern” about the measures, saying that U.K. businesses are affected.
In late December, Congress voted into law a $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill that contains a provision banning the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from delivering vapor products.
The USPS was already prohibited from delivering cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to consumers under the PACT Act. The law passed in December extends the act’s original definition of “cigarette” to include electronic nicotine-delivery systems.
Tobacco and vapor companies may use private services to ship their products to consumers, but the PACT Act requires them to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the tobacco tax administrators of the states into which a shipment is made. Delivery sellers are further required to verify the age and identity of the customer at purchase and maintain records of delivery sales for a period of four years after the date of sale, creating substantial administrative burdens.
Critically for the vapor industry, the most popular carriers, Federal Express (FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS), have recently announced that they would cease all deliveries of vapor products.
“We have had orders not being collected, and our own shops not receiving stock in a reliable manner, all of which impacts customers,” said Joe Bevan, director of UKVIA member Celtic Vapours. “As the majority of our business is currently online, we need efficient delivery of stock to provide the quickest service.”
We have had orders not being collected, and our own shops not receiving stock in a reliable manner, all of which impacts customers.
Joe Bevan, director, Celtic Vapours
“At a time when many vapers are unfortunately unable to visit their local vape store, this is making it even more difficult for them to receive the consumable products they rely upon,” said Richard Russell, operations manager at Vape Distribution. “Certain carriers perhaps don’t realize that this action could lead vapers to revert back to smoking.”
“The vaping supply chain is a global one, bringing together resources and expertise from around the world,” said John Dunne, director general at UKVIA. “It is bitterly disappointing to see these American restrictions having a negative impact in the U.K., but the nature of the supply chain makes it inevitable. In the EU, too, we are hearing of vaping businesses being turned away from major carriers.
John Dunne
“We have had orders not being collected, and our own shops not receiving stock in a reliable manner, all of which impacts customers,” said Joe Bevan, director of UKVIA member Celtic Vapours. “As the majority of our business is currently online, we need efficient delivery of stock to provide the quickest service.”
“At a time when many vapers are unfortunately unable to visit their local vape store, this is making it even more difficult for them to receive the consumable products they rely upon,” said Richard Russell, operations manager at Vape Distribution. “Certain carriers perhaps don’t realize that this action could lead vapers to revert back to smoking.”
“The vaping supply chain is a global one, bringing together resources and expertise from around the world,” said John Dunne, director general at UKVIA. “It is bitterly disappointing to see these American restrictions having a negative impact in the U.K., but the nature of the supply chain makes it inevitable. In the EU, too, we are hearing of vaping businesses being turned away from major carriers.
“The potential impact on public health is grave as so many people are relying on shipped goods as a lifeline during the pandemic. Without proper access to harm-reduction products, we know people can revert to smoking cigarettes—today in the U.S. but perhaps tomorrow in the U.K. With businesses already struggling through lockdown and our health services under great strain, supply chain issues really are the last thing we need.
“I call on the distribution industry, many of whom have been partners of the vaping industry for many years, to do all they can to support their U.K. customers and to avoid the blanket implementation of U.S. restrictions worldwide.
“Furthermore, I call on the U.K. government to ensure that carriers in this country are free to continue to deliver vaping products to retailers and direct to consumers and to resist any urge to follow the U.S. down this regressive route.”
March 8, 2021
Postal service Invites Input on ENDS ban
Photo: Vladimir Daragan – Dreamstime.com
Stakeholders will have 30 days to comment on the proposed U.S. Postal Service rules for mailing electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS). The USPS posted the rules on Wednesday and they were published in the Federal Register today. Comments must be submitted by March 22. The rules are expected to take effect March 27.
“The Postal Service proposes to revise Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted and Perishable Mail, to incorporate new statutory restrictions on the mailing of electronic nicotine-delivery systems,” the listing reads. “Such items would be subject to the same prohibition as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, subject to many of the same exceptions.”
The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act, which placed ENDS under the PACT Act, was enacted on Dec. 27, 2020, and becomes effective 90 days after enactment (March 27, 2021). The USPO rule states that the agency will only mail ENDS products under narrowly defined circumstances.
Exceptions from the ban include:
Intrastate shipments within Alaska or Hawaii;
Shipments between verified and authorized tobacco industry businesses for business purposes, or between such businesses and federal or state agencies for regulatory purposes;
Lightweight shipments mailed between adult individuals, limited to 10 per 30-day period;
Limited shipments of cigarettes sent by verified and authorized manufacturers to adult smokers for consumer testing purposes;
Limited shipments by federal agencies for public health purposes under similar rules applied to manufacturers conducting consumer testing.
The unpublished rules suggest that business-to-business shipments will be allowed. According to Azim Chowdhury, a partner at Keller and Heckman, the PACT Act has historically exempted business-to-business deliveries from the USPS ban. Specifically, the USPS ban does not extend to tobacco products mailed only for business purposes between legally operating businesses that have all applicable state and federal government licenses or permits and are engaged in tobacco product manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, export, import, testing, investigation or research.
February 19, 2021