The agreement, called an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (click here to view), covers about 4,000 c-store operations in 32 states, all of which sell tobacco products. Stores covered by the agreement operate under [image-nocss] the names Circle K, Dairy Mart and On the Run.
The states include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, along with the District of Columbia.
Under the agreement, Circle K will adopt specific procedures designed to reduce sales and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors in all of its approximately 3,000 corporate-owned stores, and will adopt various methods designed to curb underage tobacco sales at another 1,000 franchise locations.
The agreement is part of an ongoing multistate enforcement effort that has produced similar settlements over the last few years with gas station, convenience store, drugstore and other companies and their related brands including 7-Eleven, BP (including BP and ARCO), Chevron, ConocoPhillips (including Phillips 66, Conoco and 76), CVS, ExxonMobil (including Exxon and Mobil), Kroger, Rite Aid, Valero, Walgreens and Wal-Mart.
All of the agreements require vendors to reduce the sale of tobacco to minors through effective employee training and other policies and procedures.
The agreement with Circle K includes provisions for comprehensive training of retail personnel, independent compliance checks to monitor sales practices, advising contract operators that there will be serious ramifications imposed for underage tobacco sales and several other protections.
The agreement notes that the great majority of adult smokers started before they reached 18; that young people show signs of addiction after smoking only a few cigarettes; and that the younger a person begins to smoke the more likely he or she will be unable to quit and will suffer from a tobacco-related disease.
The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance includes the following terms (among others): ID must be checked on all persons who appear to be under 30, to protect against mistakes by clerks in evaluating a person's age by their appearance alone. In-store advertising of tobacco must be limited in ways intended to reduce the effect on young people, and outdoor advertising is to be eliminated at stores within 500 feet of playgrounds or schools. Employee training will focus on the mechanics of eliminating underage tobacco sales, and will also emphasize the serious health issues that give rise to the legal efforts to restrict youth access to tobacco. Circle K will test itself on the effectiveness of its own safeguards against underage sales by conducting "mystery shopper" compliance checks at 500 of its stores every six months. Circle K voluntarily agreed to pay the attorneys general a total of $225,000 to be used for such purposes as consumer education, public protection or the implementation of programs protecting against tobacco use by minors. Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. currently operates a network of 5,904 convenience stores, 4,178 of which include motor-fuel dispensing. The stores are operated by 12 business units, including nine in the United States covering 42 states and the District of Columbia (primarily under regional divisions of the Circle K brand), and three in Canada covering all 10 provinces (primarily under the Mac's brand).
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.