Amazon.com Inc is liable for dangerous products sold by third-party sellers on its platform under federal safety law and bears legal responsibility for recalling them, the U.S. consumer watchdog said Tuesday.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it has ordered the e-commerce giant to propose remedial plans to notify consumers of the products and remove them from consumers’ homes by encouraging return or destruction.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said more than 400,000 products are subject to the order, citing defective carbon monoxide detectors, hair dryers without shock protection and children’s sleepwear that violates flammability standards.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that Amazon was a “distributor” of the defective products as listed on its website, even though they were sold by third-party sellers under the “Fulfilled by Amazon” program.
“Amazon failed to notify the public of these dangerous products and did not take sufficient steps to encourage its customers to return or destroy them, thereby leaving consumers at high risk of injury,” the agency said.
In July 2021, the Consumer Product Safety Commission sued Amazon, forcing the company to recall hundreds of thousands of dangerous products sold on its platform. At the time, Amazon said it had removed the “vast majority” of those products from its store and offered full refunds to customers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that Amazon argued before an administrative law judge that it was not acting as a distributor of the products under the Consumer Product Safety Act and therefore had no liability for the items.
Fulfillment by Amazon allows third-party sellers to list their products on Amazon, which are stored, packed, and shipped by Amazon upon request.
Late last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to stop using toy magnets from Chinese seller Doraemon, which were sold on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), after seven deaths from ingestion.