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TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced that ConocoPhillips Company, one of the nation's largest oil companies, has reached an agreement with Florida and 39 other states to discourage underage tobacco sales at approximately 10,000 gas stations and convenience stores around the country. The policy changes will be implemented at stores operating under the Conoco, 76 and Phillips 66 names.

According to Crist, about 9,670 of the outlets affected by this agreement throughout the nation are independently-owned businesses with contracts that allow them to operate under the ConocoPhillips name. Under the agreement with the attorneys general, ConocoPhillips has agreed to include provisions in those contracts expressly requiring compliance with legal prohibitions against tobacco sales to minors. There are currently 76 outlets in Florida covered by the agreement.

"Few things are more important than enforcing regulations designed to protect our children from the hazards of tobacco use," Crist said, "Government cannot reduce youth smoking by itself, and this agreement with ConocoPhillips will play an important role in the effort."

When agreements with independently owned stores are initiated or renewed, ConocoPhillips will require store management to notify the company of any underage tobacco sales infractions that occur. Violations can jeopardize a store's right to operate under company trademarks. The company has also agreed to write annually to each store to remind them of the importance of preventing tobacco sales to minors and the fact that failure to comply with underage tobacco sales laws could constitute grounds for ending their right to operate under the ConocoPhillips trademarks.

In addition to spelling out the requirements for the independently owned and operated retail outlets, the agreement contains a series of policies and procedures that will be fully implemented at stores directly owned and operated by ConocoPhillips. These procedures will be designed to serve as a model set of safeguards for the independent outlets.

Among the changes to be implemented at ConocoPhillips' company-owned outlets are:

- changes in training and hiring of personnel
- age verification efforts and compliance with laws restricting sales to minors
- a prohibition on vending machines for cigarette sales
- restriction of tobacco sales to one area of the store
- an age limitation on the sale of smoking paraphernalia
- various advertising restrictions.

The agreement notes that 47 percent of youth who report buying cigarettes identify gas stations as their primary point of purchase, and another 27 percent identify convenience stores – meaning that approximately three-fourths of all cigarette sales to youth take place at the kind of stores affected by this agreement. The agreement also says that every day in the United States more than 2,000 people under the age of 18 begin smoking and that one-third of them will one day die from a tobacco-related disease.

The other 39 participating states are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Crist and the other state attorneys general have previously reached agreements with several other major companies to limit tobacco sales, including all Wal-Mart and Walgreens stores and all gas stations and convenience stores operating under the Exxon, 7-Eleven and BP brand names. Combined, the agreements provide measures to reduce sales of tobacco products to minors by the nation's top retail chain (Wal-Mart), number one drug store chain (Walgreens), largest oil company (ExxonMobil) and biggest retailer of tobacco products (7-Eleven).

A copy of the multistate agreement with ConocoPhillips is available at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JFAO-6K5P56/$file/ConocoPhillipsAVC.pdf