The Environmental Protection Agency is cracking down on Amazon and eBay over product claim to kill coronavirus , a fresh strain of which causes the pernicious disease covid-19 . The crackdown is a unrelenting reminder that product attempting to manipulate concerned consumers stay available for cut-rate sale despite the apparent campaign of on-line marketplaces to scrub them from their site , and the responsibility has unfortunately fall on consumers to be skeptical of any such product .
The EPAannouncedthe crackdown on “ unregistered or misbranded pesticide and pesticide machine ” Thursday , adding that some of the pesticides in question are market with “ false or misleading claims ” about their potential to “ kill ” the novel coronavirus , SARS - CoV-2 , or covid-19 . Some of the listings cited by the EPA call include language like “ epidemic prevention , ” “ coronavirus disinfectant , ” and “ complete sterilisation including the current pandemic computer virus . ” Bloombergfirst reportedon the order to stop the sale of these pesticide products .
“ These terminate sale Order to Amazon and eBay shew the Trump Administration ’s preserve allegiance to protecting the health and safety of Americans , ” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler , said in a statement . “ We stay on vigilant against the title of manufacturer that incorrectly assert their efficaciousness and condom . Of finical fear are products that incorrectly claim to be efficient against COVID-19 . It is our duty to continue transparent communication with the public on unregistered products that may cause injury to consumers , and right away take away them from commerce . ”
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In a statement by e-mail , an Amazon spokesperson said that it was “ off the merchandise in question and are necessitate action against the bad actors who listed them . ”
“ Amazon expect that sellers provide accurate selective information on Cartesian product detail page and put cognitive process in place to proactively occlude inaccurate claims about COVID-19 before they are published to our entrepot , ” the spokesperson articulate . “ We ’ve also modernise specific tools for COVID-19 that move 24/7 to rake the hundreds of millions of Cartesian product contingent pages for any inaccurate claims that our initial filter may have missed . together with , our efforts have block more than 6.5 million products . ”
A spokesperson for eBay told Gizmodo the company has been in contact with the representation and supports its crusade .
“ Our precedency at eBay remains ensuring the safety of our customers and employees around the world , ” the spokesperson say . “ Amid the coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) pandemic , we have taken meaning measure to barricade or quickly absent detail from our marketplace that are unsafe , make imitation wellness claims or violate our zero - tolerance price gouging insurance policy . ”
Amazon has long - make out with keepingmisleadingorunauthorized productsfrom its internet site , particularlyduring the pandemic . Back in February , the company banned more than1 million productsthat claimed to protect against or cure covid-19 or coronavirus as it also work to get a handle on rank price - gouging amid unprecedented requirement for thing like masque and handwriting sanitizer . This week , Bloomberg separatelyreportedthat a shortfall of some of these items on Amazon during the stature of the pandemic may have been in part because of third - political party sellers pulling the products from the website over fears they would be incriminate of damage - gouging and kicked off the marketplace .
“ Our objective is to protect customer from clearly crying price increases , ” an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg . “ If a seller believes we ’ve made an mistake , we boost them to reach out to us directly and we will investigate the matter . ”
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