WHAT TOBACCO RETAILERS NEED TO KNOW

The DCA licenses cigarette retailers in New York City, and enforces City and State laws that prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors.

The agency takes this responsibility seriously. All retail tobacco dealers in New York City must register with the State Department of Taxation and Finance to sell tobacco products in New York City, and cigarette retailers must get an additional license from the DCA.

The DCA runs one of the best and most comprehensive Teen Tobacco Enforcement Programs in the country, in which teens work with agency inspectors and go undercover to curb illegal sales to minors. Accompanied by a DCA inspector, teens conduct more than 14,000 routine inspections year-round in all five boroughs.

The DCA’s Teen Tobacco Enforcement Program is funded by a New York State grant administered by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

If a store illegally sells cigarettes to minors, the vendor is given a violation and faces both City and State penalties, including high fines and loss of license.

Violators face penalties from both the State and the City for:

• Selling to minors. No tobacco products (including bidis and gutka) can be legally sold to individuals under the age of 18 years.
  
  
• Selling loose cigarettes.
  
  
• Selling to customers lacking required ID. When selling tobacco products, the customer must have a valid photo ID, which must be either a driver's license or nondriver's ID card issued by any U.S. state or possession, or an ID issued by the federal government or the U.S. armed forces, or a valid passport from any country.
  
  (A salesperson is not required to check the ID of a customer who appears to be at least 25 years old. However, the appearance of a customer cannot be used as a defense if the customer was, in fact, a minor.)
  
  
• Failing to conspicuously post a sign, on a white card with red letters at least ½ inch high, that says:
  
  "Sale of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, powdered tobacco, or other tobacco products, herbal cigarettes, rolling papers or pipes, to persons under eighteen years of age is prohibited by law."
  
  
• Storing improperly. Tobacco products and herbal cigarettes offered for sale or on display must be stored behind a counter, inaccessible to the public, or in a locked container.
  
  
• Operating vending machines, in locations where minors have easy access.
  
  
• Selling bidis (except from a tobacco store).
  

In addition, City law prohibits allowing employees younger than 18 years of age to sell or handle tobacco products, unless the employee is under the supervision of someone who is 18 or older.

Violations of City tobacco law may result in fines of up to $2,000, in addition to fines assessed under the State law, and the loss of the business’s DCA tobacco sales
license.

Violations of State tobacco law may result in fines of up to $4,000, plus a $50 surcharge for each violation. Violations can lead to the loss of the business’s State retail sales registration and Lottery license.

Note: Violators guilty of an illegal sale of cigarettes to a minor can only avail themselves of limited penalty waiver options if they show the seller held a certificate of completion from a state certified tobacco sales training program.

For information about the New York State Department of Health tobacco sales training program, tobacco vending machines, and sales to minors, call (800) 458-1158 or visit www.health.state.ny.us.