The shipping company DHL temporarily stops all deliveries of nicotine products to private individuals. The reason: new guidelines from the Public Health Agency of Sweden and uncertainty about who should guarantee that the products are delivered to a person over the age of 18.
In the midst of the payroll and Black Friday campaigns, the freight company DHL announced that it is stopping deliveries of all tobacco and nicotine products in Sweden. This means that many people who buy e-liquid, nicotine pouches or snus will have to choose other shipping options. The reason for this is uncertainty about how age checks will be guaranteed during deliveries.
"We do not want to put our agents in a situation where they risk handing out goods with an 18-year age limit. This applies even if it is not our or our agents' job to check ID at the time of purchase, but the seller's. At the moment, we have no way of ensuring the age of the person picking up a package. What we can do is to ensure that it is the same person who bought the parcel who picks it up" says Mikael Stange, Head of Communications at DHL eCommerce Solutions.
High requirements for age checks
According to the Act on new nicotine products Since August 1, it has been illegal to sell nicotine pouches (also known as white snus) to people under 18. It has long been illegal to sell other nicotine products to minors - since 1997 for snus and cigarettes, and in 2018 for e-cigarettes and nicotine liquid. However, it is only now that the Public Health Agency of Sweden is involving suppliers in its guidelines.
"For internet sales, the seller must or hand over the product to ensure that the age requirement is met. Even in the case of internet sales, there must be procedures to ensure that the 18-year age limit is met both at the time of purchase and at the time of delivery." Writes Public Health Agency of Sweden.
At the same time, FHM emphasizes that the seller "cannot hand over a large part of his obligations under the self-checking program to another person".
Unclear how the 18-year age limit is guaranteed
But the guidelines, which are primarily aimed at local authority inspectors, have caused headaches, not least for the transport company DHL. Even though the law states that the seller must carry out the age check, and cannot leave this to anyone else, the seller must also ensure that the delivery works in a "satisfactory manner".
Looking at technical solutions
For DHL, it is therefore about ensuring that it is really the person who paid for the goods who also picks up the package. And this is something that is not done automatically at present. This week, DHL therefore sent out a message to its customers about an immediate stop to deliveries of tobacco and nicotine products.
"Tobacco products are not a big part of our business. But we need to be able to guarantee our partners, customers and agents that legal age checks work all the way from sale to delivery. Right now, we are looking at technical solutions to meet current laws and regulations" says Mikael Stange
Offers other shipping
DHL does not want to answer how long the stop will be. But it could be one to two weeks or more.
Currently, most vejp shoppers in Sweden have several different options for shipping. Other suppliers today have options for age checks both at purchase and delivery and, as far as Vejpkollen is aware, no shop is completely dependent on DHL for its deliveries to customers.
