This week, the FDA began sending to retailers across the country new educational materials called “This Is Our Watch.” In today’s announcement, the agency indicated that new materials will “provide resources to tobacco retailers to encourage consistent compliance with the federal law that makes it illegal to sell tobacco products to minors.” The free set of materials being mailed to retailers includes a letter to retailers, a poster, register signage, regulation fact sheets, an age verification calendar, and instructions for use.

In response to a question asked by a NATO member, the use of these materials sent by the FDA is voluntary. That is, retailers are not required to utilize the “This Is Our Watch” materials in their stores, but may do so or consider how the materials might be useful to supplement current underage sales training materials that are already being used. Below is a link to the page on the FDA’s website to learn more about the new program and available materials:

https://digitalmedia.hhs.gov/tobacco/print_materials/search?tag=This+Is+Our+Watch