Vaping supplies in the letterbox
Security gaps in the delivery chain are potentially putting young people at risk, writes Esther Taunton.
More must be done to prevent vaping products being bought online and delivered to children, a public health expert says. Under New Zealand law, the sale and supply of vaping products is restricted to those aged over 18.
However, a Sunday Star-Times survey of websites selling the products found age verification processes were inconsistent.
While some had strict conditions, including presentation of government-issued identification to the delivery driver, others used non-signature delivery services and offered to leave items in the letterbox.
Associate Professor George Thomson, from the University of Otago, said lax legislation around online sales of regulated products was putting young people at risk.
Thomson said the simplest way to prevent underage buyers making online purchases would be by requiring online stores to use a governmentled e-ID system, similar to technology used in other countries.
Previous University of Otago research coauthored by Thomson found that while 47 per cent of New Zealand websites selling vaping products displayed a pop-up box where users had to ‘‘verify’’ their age by ticking a check box, only six out of 59 required customers to provide ID, such as a driver’s licence or passport, to complete their order.
But the legislative loopholes weren’t just a New Zealand issue, he said.
‘‘All around the world, there has to be much more effort in the regulation of the internet or in supplying systems for the internet to require effective control of supply. The very first thing would be an ID system.’’
In the meantime, Thomson said, retailers and delivery companies both had a responsibility to ensure restricted items didn’t reach minors.
‘‘The buck stops in several places. The law doesn’t just prohibit sale of these products, it also prohibits delivery and supply, and the delivery person is also obligated to obey the law,’’ he said.
‘‘Courier companies have to have systems in place to know if they’re transporting regulated goods and systems for ID verification.’’
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said key changes to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act which came into force in November included prohibiting the sale or supply of vaping products to under 18s.
That meant vaping products must not be delivered, or delivery arranged, to someone under the age of 18.
‘‘While the onus should not be placed on the courier to know the contents of every delivery he or she makes, those couriers collecting directly from a vape outlet should ask for proof of age of the recipient if they believe they are under 25.’’
Vaping Trade Association spokesman Jonathan Devery previously told Stuff the industry had been trying its best to self-regulate but had no guidelines from the Government.
His business, Vapo, and others put R18 stickers on their online orders which required couriers to check ID on delivery. Devery said this method was also used by the alcohol industry.
‘‘I would be incredibly disappointed and surprised if vape vendors would sell to kids.’’
Asking customers to upload their ID to vape vendors’ websites came with privacy issues, but Devery would ‘‘absolutely’’ support the introduction of an electronic-ID programme, such as using Real Me, to vaping websites.
A Freightways spokeswoman said its courier brands offered a range of add-on services, including signature requests or proof of age requests at an additional cost to senders.
Signature requests were available through New Zealand Couriers standard delivery services and ID checks through SUB60.
‘‘Our customers are responsible for ensuring that age-restricted items are only sold to those who are legally allowed to purchase them as our couriers do not open packaged items to check the contents,’’ she said.
New Zealand Post customers could also pay for age verification when sending restricted items.
The R18 ‘‘no authority to leave’’ service requires a physical ID check to be completed before the package is signed for and handed over.
If verified ID was not presented by the person physically receiving the parcel, it would not be delivered.
Brendan Sheehan, head of product domestic solutions at the postal service, said alcohol had been the primary age-restricted good delivered by its network for a long time.
Since the changes to regulations around vape products, NZ Post had taken steps to ensure its processes around sending R18 were ‘‘in the spirit of the act’’.
‘‘We have agreements with a number of retailers and senders around the conditions for sending these items and they have to comply with those agreements.’’
Although individual courier drivers were experts in their ‘‘patch’’, it wasn’t possible or feasible for them to know the contents of every parcel or who lived at every address, Sheehan said.
‘‘Our policy is if [the person receiving a marked R18 parcel] looks under 25, they’re to be asked for ID. If the driver is uncomfortable at all, they’ll leave a card to call and take the parcel to the depot for collection.’’
Alex Sims, associate professor in the University of Auckland’s department of commercial law, said the seller looked to be liable if a courier delivered vaping products to someone under the age of 18.
‘‘The retailer, by using a courier to deliver that product, is ‘arrang[ing] for it to be delivered’. The courier is likely to be treated as an agent of the retailer,’’ Sims said.
‘‘The courier’s actions of supplying it to a person under 18 are treated as if the retailer were doing the supply. So the retailer is the one that is liable under the act if the couriers are delivering the vaping products to under-age people.’’
Sims said individual couriers and their employers may not be liable if they failed to check the recipient’s age, as they had not sold the regulated product.
‘‘While this may seem a bit strange for the courier to avoid liability, a courier does not always see who is purchasing the regulated product. For example if no signature was required for the parcel, or it was sent in the normal post.’’