The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule raising the minimum age for certain tobacco sales restrictions, aimed at further reducing youth access to tobacco products.

Announced on Aug. 29, the new requirements will take effect on Sept. 30, in line with the federal law passed in December 2019 that raised the legal age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.

As part of the new measures, retailers must verify the age of anyone under 30 with photo identification before selling tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. This is an increase from the previous requirement of verifying customers who appear under 27. The FDA highlighted the difficulty retailers face in determining a customer's age based on appearance alone, making ID checks for younger-looking individuals a critical step in preventing underage sales.

Additionally, the rule restricts the use of vending machines for tobacco sales. Starting Sept. 30, vending machine sales of tobacco products will only be allowed in facilities where no one under the age of 21 is permitted, extending the restriction from venues where individuals under 18 were previously allowed.

"Today's rule is another key step toward protecting our nation's youth from the health risks of tobacco products," said Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products. "Decades of science have shown that keeping tobacco products away from youth is critical to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death."

The 2019 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law on Dec. 20 of that year, immediately raised the minimum age to 21 for purchasing tobacco products across the U.S. The FDA has since been enforcing this change, conducting over 1.5 million compliance checks on retailers nationwide. These efforts have led to more than 134,000 warning letters, over 33,000 civil penalties and 230 no-tobacco-sale orders for violations.

More than 95% of U.S. adults who smoke daily tried their first cigarette before the age of 21, highlighting the importance of limiting youth access. The FDA's rule further strengthens the fight against tobacco addiction, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually through tobacco-related diseases.

The FDA has also developed resources to help retailers comply with these regulations. The voluntary education program, "This is Our Watch," offers tools such as a digital age verification calendar and an age calculator app to assist retailers in calculating the age of customers. The FDA plans to release updated resources, including further details on the new regulations, on its website at www.fda.gov in the near future.