ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and 12 other state attorneys general asked credit card companies to stop processing payments for sales of illegal vape products from China.
According to an announcement from the AG’s office, illegal vapes are overwhelmingly produced in China and now account for almost all of the United States vape product market.
Carr’s office said the sales of illegal Chinese vapes generates $11 billion every year in retail sales and makes up more than 80% of sales in the U.S.
The AG said unauthorized vapes and e-cigarettes can only be distributed through financial institutions and payment processors, making it so thousands of unauthorized products are still being sold, despite federal and state laws.
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The biggest harm from the situation is affecting American children, Carr’s office said.
“These illegal Chinese vapes are putting our children at risk, and we must do all we can to protect them,” Carr said in a statement. “We have been fighting this issue since day one – pushing back on the Biden administration’s FDA, advocating for stronger laws in Georgia, and warning our convenience stores not to put profit over safety. Now, we’re asking payment processors to work with us to stop the flow of illegal, candy-flavored vapes once and for all.”
The letter from more than a dozen state AGs was sent to Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover in a bid to make another public-private partnership work in the public’s favor.
Carr’s office referenced a previous, similar, action from 2005, when state attorneys general and the U.S. bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives worked with card payment networks to stop the illegal sale of cigarettes online.
State officials signed on to the letter are hoping similar cooperation can be achieved with the vape product issue.
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