A U.S. regulator unanimously voted Tuesday to hold Amazon accountable for defective and unsafe products sold by third-party vendors on its website and app.
The decision by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) mandates that Amazon recall over 400,000 faulty products or face legal repercussions, CNN reported.
The CPSC, responsible for ordering recalls of hazardous products sold in the U.S., identified several dangerous items on Amazon’s platform, including malfunctioning carbon monoxide detectors, flammable children’s pajamas, and potentially deadly hair dryers.
The commission ruled that Amazon, by acting as a distributor for these third-party goods, bears responsibility for ensuring consumer safety.
Amazon’s marketplace, where over 60% of sales are made by independent sellers, has been the subject of legal debates concerning liability for third-party products. The CPSC’s decision reflects its ongoing efforts to crack down on unsafe products.
Appointed by President Joe Biden, the agency’s acting chairs have been proactive in addressing consumer safety concerns.
“Amazon failed to notify the public about these hazardous products and did not take adequate steps to encourage its customers to return or destroy them, thereby leaving consumers at substantial risk of injury,” the CPSC said.
Amazon is now required to develop and submit plans to inform purchasers about product hazards and offer refunds or replacements. The e-commerce company expressed disappointment with the ruling and announced plans to appeal.
“In the event of a product recall in our store, we remove impacted products promptly after receiving actionable information from recalling agencies, and we continue to seek ways to innovate on behalf of our customers,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
Amazon also said that its recall alerts service is designed to quickly notify customers of product safety information. The CPSC initially sued Amazon in 2021, aiming to address the challenge of recalling foreign products sold through the platform.
Former Acting Chairman Robert Adler described the lawsuit as a significant step for the agency and called for more effective management of massive third-party platforms to protect American consumers.
Throughout the legal proceedings, the administrative law judge confirmed that Amazon acted as a distributor under the Consumer Product Safety Act, dismissing the company’s claims to the contrary.
The judge also agreed with the CPSC that Amazon’s post-lawsuit actions, such as sending safety issue notifications and providing Amazon credit instead of refunds, were inadequate.
In response, Amazon maintained that upon being notified of the safety concerns, it “swiftly notified customers, instructed them to stop using the products, and refunded them.”
The company now faces the challenge of complying with the CPSC’s requirements to ensure consumer safety and prevent future incidents involving third-party products.
