Companies selling nicotine online must ensure that no one under the age of 18 can buy or collect the products. But the law is silent on how this should be done and it is up to individual municipalities and officials to interpret the regulations. This has led to some municipalities not authorising any sales at all, while accepting the industry standard that has become established. A government inquiry is now criticising this practice. But while larger companies are fighting municipalities in court, others are being forced to stop selling online altogether.
For the second time in just six months, the City of Gothenburg has banned the Arcane vape shop from selling nicotine products via its website. The reason: the municipality believes that the company cannot guarantee that the person picking up the product is over 18 years old.
"It is absolutely crazy. We have three-step verification. First via BankID at the checkout. Then I get access to the social security number via integration and further check the data in person. And then we only send with PostNord's tobacco supplement, where age verification via photo ID is required at the agent." says Mr Fredric Corneliusson, who runs Arcane Vape.
Common way to verify age
This type of age verification is used by several different companies that Vejpkollen has been in contact with. However, according to Municipality of Gothenburg it is not enough. The main argument is that Arcane Vapes cannot be personally responsible for ensuring that the agent does the right thing in the last line, at the time of delivery. According to the municipality of Gothenburg, the penalty for selling nicotine products to a minor is so high that it must be crystal clear who is responsible for the sale.
It is now the second time that the municipality of Gothenburg stops sales for Arcane Vape, which also has a physical store in the centre of Gothenburg. And owner Fredric Corneliusson has basically given up.
"I feel like there's no point in appealing. We did it the first time and explained how age verification works. But it fell on deaf ears and the case officer was right. This is basically the City of Gothenburg's environmental administration saying that it will not reasonably allow you to sell e-cigarettes or refill containers online." says Mr Fredric Corneliusson.
Snus seller takes battle to court
Earlier this year, customers at the Stockholm-based company Snusbolaget faced a similar situation. Officials at the municipality decided to stop the sale of snus online as this would contravene the rules governing responsibility for age verification. In this case, it was a direct-to-door delivery service, which is used by many people living in rural areas.
"We have appealed this, but pending a decision, all sales directly to the door via Early Bird will be stopped from Snusbolaget. At present, it is only possible to deliver to Instabox. This is of course a great pity for those who do not live in big cities and may have to travel several miles to collect their deliveries." says Markus Lindblad, Head of Communications and Legal Officer at Snusbolaget/Haypp.
"The system is not working today"
According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden's regulations on age verification, anyone selling or dispensing nicotine products must ensure that the age requirement is met. However, it is the person responsible for the business who must ensure that procedures are in place to ensure that the age requirement is maintained.
How this is to be done in practice is then up to the seller to sort out and then for the responsible supervisor at the respective environmental administration to approve or not.
"And this is not working today. In some municipalities, officials interpret the law at their own discretion, often based on their own values. This means that one variant of age verification is OK in one municipality but not in another. If all municipalities' different interpretations were to apply everywhere, it would not be possible to sell any nicotine products online at all in Sweden. And it should be according to the laws we have. We need much clearer guidelines from the Public Health Agency here." says Markus Lindblad.
Criticised in investigation
The investigation also "A safe childhood without nicotine, alcohol and nitrous oxide" addresses the issue. The rapporteur calls for stronger centralised control of both alcohol and tobacco enforcement.
"In order to ensure equal treatment of traders regardless of location and effective licensing and supervision, the report states that clearer and stronger government control is needed." the report states.
Administrators require training
The Association of Municipal Alcohol and Tobacco Officers (KAF-T) has also written to the Government stating that there is a great need for guidance and concrete advice for the interpretation of the legislation. According to the investigator, the Public Health Agency of Sweden should be tasked with organising proper training for all alcohol and tobacco officers in the municipalities.
"Such teacher-led training can be expected to contribute to a more uniform application of the legislation, particularly in the licensing process but also in supervision," the investigator writes.
"Authorities must adapt"
At present, the the investigation on behalf of the governmentd, after the consultation bodies have had their say. There are currently no concrete proposals on how to improve and harmonise supervision across the country.
"But hopefully that will come soon. The government wants to change the objective of tobacco policy to promote harm minimisation for smokers. The authorities will then have to ensure that this happens, without putting obstacles in the way of companies legally selling less harmful nicotine products online." says Markus Lindblad from Haypp/Snusbolaget.
