KEY POINTS:
Youngsters are able to buy cigarettes and alcohol illegally - simply by shopping online.
Supermarkets and liquor stores are being warned they are breaking the law by unwittingly letting underage children buy alcohol without asking for ID or proof of age.
The Herald on Sunday bought alcohol from
Foodtown, Woolworths, Liquor King and Glengarry websites. At no stage were we asked for identification. Cigarettes and alcohol were delivered with no request for ID.
Such sales are clearly illegal, according to a police spokesperson.
"The components of the law are the same as if a 16-year-old was buying alcohol at the supermarket."
The loopholes in the system have been condemned by alcohol campaigners. Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand chief executive, Sandra Kirby, said it was unacceptable that sites did not have more stringent procedures. "They have no defence for that sale - it's illegal for anybody to sell to minors. They have to take all reasonable precautions. The responsibility is on the seller to verify the age of the person."
She said it was important for retailers to verify age over the internet as anyone could fake an online name.
"I think any of the internet sales places need to be able to demonstrate they can be as responsible for those internet-based sales as they are for face-to-face sales. The checks are harder but they become more important because of that."
National's associate welfare spokesperson, Paula Bennett, said if there was no process for identification they should not sell online. "I don't think supermarkets should be selling alcohol online at all. It's too dangerous because of the lack of accountability, and checks and balances. How many examples could we cite of people having a false identity online?"
As the internet grew in popularity it would become more of a problem, Kirby said.
But liquor retailers said it was incredibly difficult to ID people in internet sales. Liz Reid, spokesperson for Lion Nathan, which owns Liquor King, said the problem lay with regulation - it was impossible to check ID until the alcohol was delivered.
"The vast majority of the people who use the service will be of legal age. How much do we put hurdles in place that reduce the convenience and the whole intention of that retail offering in order to try and control for the minority behaviour?
Reid said Liquor King's policy was to ask for ID at delivery.
She said the company would investigate the matter.
But Kirby said she had little confidence in that plan.
"Given that the delivery instructions can be to leave it on the porch, it's difficult to see how that could happen."
Richard Manaton, general manager of marketing at Progressive Enterprises, which owns Foodtown and Woolworths, said the company had a number of checks and balances.
"When a person goes to extreme lengths to deceive it is extremely difficult to detect the deception... We are continually reviewing our own processes and systems and we take any opportunity to improve them to ensure they are as robust as possible."
Glengarry declined to comment.
