Everything You Need To Know About the Vape Mail Ban
Where did all the Vaporizers go?
Last year, legislators made new revisions to the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which has made a big impact on the smoking industry. With many of the shipping carriers electing to stop accepting shipments for these types of products, shipping vaporizers to consumers have become more difficult. To help you better understand and navigate these new changes, here is everything you need to know about the Vape Mail Ban.
What is the PACT Act?
On June 29, 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) put the PACT Act into effect due to concerns over underage consumers buying tobacco and smokeless tobacco products online. The PACT Act regulates the mailing of tobacco products, vapes, and e-cigarettes to consumers through mail carriers. It outlines the requirements for registration, reporting, delivery, and recordkeeping of any person or manufacturer who sells, transfers, or ships for profit tobacco products. Those who are non-compliant with the PACT Act face increased fines and up to three years of jail time.
Revisions to the PACT Act
On December 27, 2020, Congress passed a COVID-19 relief bill that also amended the PACT Act to include e-cigarettes and all vaping products. Revisions to the PACT Act also included an updated federal definition of “cigarette” to incorporate Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), which went into effect on March 27, 2021. ENDS are outlined as any type of product that delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other type of substance through an aerosolized solution to the consumer, such as e-cigarettes, vapes, hookahs, vaporizers, and electronic pipes.
With these revisions to the PACT Act, many mailing services like UPS, FedEx, DHL, and USPS are halting their shipment services in relation to all products mentioned above. The timeline of product shipment concessions are as follows:
- FedEx: March 1, 2021
- UPS: April 5, 2021
- DHL: April 5, 2021
- USPS: April 27, 2021 (Update: USPS has delayed final ruling on the implementation of the PACT ACT)
Following these dates, consumers will not be able to receive their electronic tobacco/cigarette/vape products due to the PACT Act.
Update on MatchBox Bros
In light of these recent amendments to the PACT Act, all shipments of vaporizers have been halted until further notice. We will update this post with new information as it becomes readily available to the public.