Last Updated on September 6, 2020, 8:23 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Amazon has said that it has banned foreign sales of seeds in the US after thousands of Americans had received unsolicited packages of seeds in their mailboxes, which were mostly postmarked from China.
The US Department of Agriculture identified over a dozen plant species in July, ranging from mustard to morning glories in the bags of unsolicited seeds. The USDA had warned the Americans not to plant these seeds.
According to the experts, seeds from other parts of the world could be non-native varieties which may harm commodity crops.
Amazon said in a statement on Saturday that they are permitting the sale of seeds only by the sellers who are based in the US.
The company has also changed its policy on seed sales on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal first reported the policy change.
Amazon added that sellers who do not follow its guidelines would be subject to action, including the potential removal of their accounts.
According to the policy web page of Amazon, the ban extends to plants as well as plant products.
The USDA said in July that the packages were most likely a part of a “brushing” scam, in which people are receiving unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false-positive customer reviews to boost sales.
A deputy administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA, Osama El-Lissy, said in an update on August 11, that the experts analyzed some of the seeds from China and found very few problems.
El-Lissy said that the two countries were jointly working on the investigation.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
