Arlington, Va. – – September 16, 2026 -- The We Card Program is marking its 31st annual Awareness Month this September by pushing retailers nationwide to tighten age-verification training as FDA enforcement of tobacco, vapor and nicotine pouch sales remains a priority.
FDA enforcement pressure drives renewed retailer training push
David Spross, Executive Director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets and a We Card board member, said September is the time to "ramp up and renew retailer compliance efforts" on federal, state and local requirements for selling age-restricted products.
We Card outlines five compliance actions for retailers this month
The organization is directing retailers to: retrain new and veteran staff on FDA, state and local rules; refresh in-store signage and training materials; measure employee performance through mystery shopping or its ID Check-Up program; benchmark store procedures against its Guide to Best Practices, available via a short survey; and step up messaging against "social sourcing," where underage individuals obtain products through gifting, proxy purchases or sharing rather than direct retail sales.
State-level recognition amplifies retailer compliance messaging
Doug Anderson, president of The We Card Program, Inc., said Awareness Month highlights retailers' year-round carding and training work, adding that Governors' Proclamations and Letters of Support from a growing number of states help "amplify that message" of retailer compliance.
We Card frames the campaign as a checkpoint rather than a one-time exercise, urging retailers to treat training, signage updates and performance measurement as continuous obligations tied to evolving federal, state and local age-restricted sales requirements.