Consumer Product Safety Commission wants e-commerce giant to accept responsibility for removing unsafe merchandise.
Government safety regulators are suing Amazon, looking to hold the world’s biggest online retailer accountable for ridding its site of unsafe merchandise sold by third parties. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted 3-to-1 to approve the administrative complaint filed against Amazon on Wednesday. It seeks to force the online behemoth to stop selling potentially hazardous items, to work with CPSC staff on recalls and to directly notify and offer refunds to those who purchased them. Amazon, for example, sold more than 24,600 faulty carbon monoxide detectors that failed to activate when the gas was present, and nearly 400,000 hair dryers without mandated devices to protect against shock and electrocution, the CPSC said. Further, the e-commerce giant sold numerous sleepwear garments for kids that didn’t meet federal flammable standards, CPSC stated. The merchandise was sold by third parties using Fulfillment By Amazon, a service that has the Seattle-based company storing and distributing the items for its sellers.
