Online marketplace Amazon.com was recently fined $1.2 million by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) for selling and distributing pesticides not registered for sale in the U.S. The EPA discovered nearly 4,000 violations dating back to 2013. The illegal products included misbranded or unregistered insecticide baits and pesticide products that can be mistaken for blackboard chalk.
Amazon immediately removed these illegal products from their marketplace, prohibited foreign sellers from selling pesticides, and increased monitoring for illegal products. The company contacted the affected customers to urge proper disposal of the illegal pesticides and reimbursed them for the purchases.
As part of an agreement with EPA, Amazon has agreed to continue closely monitoring illegal pesticides and removing them from its website. The company will also develop an online training course for the general public and online marketers on pesticide regulations and policies. The course will be available in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
For information about the safe use of pesticides and proper disposal, visit the UC IPM publication Pesticides: Safe and Effective Use in the Home and Landscape.
News release from an original article on the EPA website.