The retailer’s plant and seed policy, updated on September 2, prohibits the sale of seeds imported from outside the US or sold by non-US residents. The new policy applies to both plants and plant products.
“Going forward, we only allow US sellers to sell seeds,” Amazon said in a statement.
Sellers who do not comply with Amazon’s policies may take action against their account, including canceling a listing, suspending or confiscating payments, or banning a sale on the site. It is unclear if the seed ban will extend to other countries.
Amazon’s new rule comes after
all 50 states issued warnings USDA in July, after mysterious packages of postage stamped seeds from China were sent to households in the United States. Some of the packages were mislabeled, stating that they contained jewelry or beads, even though they only contained clear plastic seed packaging.
While it is still unclear who ships the seed packages and why, the USDA says it considers the unsolicited packages to be part of a “cleaning scam.”
“We currently have no evidence that this is anything other than a ‘cleaning scam’ where people receive unwanted items from a seller who then publishes false customer reviews to boost sales,” USDA said in a statement. in July. …
The federal agency says it is also stepping up engagement with e-commerce companies to ensure they comply with USDA regulations.
Since then, several agencies have been investigating the situation, including the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Postal Service, and the state departments of agriculture.
Agriculture officials
warned the recipients of the parcel not to plant themas unknown seeds can be invasive species that “wreak havoc” in the environment.
As of Aug.11, USDA announces it is working with China to investigate the bulk shipment of seed parcels and how to prevent unwanted imports in the future. According to the agency, the USDA has collected more than 8,507 packages from 50 states and conducted 2,410 studies of these packages. A total of 321 species of seeds have been identified.
So far, experts examining some seeds from China have found no major problems, according to the USDA.
