Tobacco Retailer Training Programs

On June 22, 2009, the President signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the Tobacco Control Act) (Public Law 111-31) into law. The Tobacco Control Act grants FDA important authority to regulate the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products to protect the public health generally and to reduce tobacco use by minors. The Tobacco Control Act provides for lower civil money penalties for violations of sale and distribution, including youth access, and advertising and promotions restrictions issued under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), as amended by the Tobacco Control Act, for retailers who have implemented a training program that complies with standards developed by FDA for such programs. FDA intends to promulgate regulations establishing standards for approved retailer training programs. Until FDA promulgates these regulations, the agency intends to use the lower maximum civil money penalties schedule for all retailers who violate the restriction of the sale and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, whether or not they have implemented a training program. However, FDA may consider further reducing the civil money penalty for retailers who have implemented a training program. In the interim, the guidance document associated with this collection of information is intended to assist tobacco retailers in implementing training programs for employees.

The latest form for Tobacco Retailer Training Programs expires 2022-12-31 and can be found here.