-text c-gray-1″ >A group of three US senators today sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asking for a “sweeping internal investigation” into the company’s consumer safety policies. The letter was written in response to a recent Wall Street Journal investigation that found more than 4,000 items for sale on the retail website that federal agencies had declared unsafe. The products ranged from unregistered pesticides to banned toys that the FDA listed as choking hazards.
Authored by Senate commerce committee members Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the letter also called for the ecommerce giant to immediately remove the illicit items. “Unquestionably, Amazon is falling short of its commitment to keeping safe those consumers who use its massive platform. We call on you to immediately remove from the platform all the problematic products examined in the recent WSJ report, 더나인카지노 explain how you are going about the process, 우리카지노계열 conduct a sweeping internal investigation of your enforcement and consumer safety policy; and 예스카지노쿠폰 institute changes that will continue to keep unsafe products off your platform,” wrote the lawmakers. Earlier this month, Menendez and Blumenthal sent a letter to the retail giant inquiring about its “Amazon Choice” program and why faulty or inferior products sometimes receive the touted classification.
The WSJ investigation found at least 2,000 listings on Amazon for toys and medications that lacked warnings about health risks to children. Reporters also unearthed toxic paint strippers, infant sleeping mats linked to suffocation, dietary supplements containing illegal prescription drugs, toys containing lead and products that falsely stated they were cleared by a federal agency.
The report recounted an incident in which a 23-year old wearing a helmet purchased on Amazon died in a 2014 motorcycle crash. The helmet, which came off of the man during the crash, had been fraudulently listed as certified by the Department of Transportation.
The senators also asked Amazon for an explanation of why its current safety protocols failed, and what it will do to prevent selling unsafe products in the future. In response to the WSJ article, Amazon published a blog post about its existing safety and compliance program but made no promises that it would change its protocols.
According to CNET, Amazon said it plans on answering the questions posed by senators in the letter. The WSJ reported today that Amazon appeared to remove or modify some of the dangerous items, but some of them have since resurfaced under new listings.
Source: US Senate, Amazon, WSJ In this article: amazon, business, congress, consumer safety, gear, internet, politics, product safety, services, tomorrow, us senate All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Comments 105 Shares Share Tweet Share Save Popular on Engadget
Google’s Pixel 4 event takes place October 15th
View Apple Arcade’s best selling point: Games you’ll actually want to play
View Classic Dragon Quest games come to Nintendo Switch
View HTC will preload a Bitcoin Cash wallet on its blockchain phone
View LastPass patched a bug that could have exposed your passwords
View From around the web