E-commerce platform Amazon has banned the sale of foreign plants after thousands of packets of seeds were delivered to American homes this summer. The packets were postmarked from China, and recipients said they had not ordered the seeds.
U.S. officials said the unregulated seeds could pose a threat to American agriculture.
The seed ban was announced and immediately enforced by Amazon Thursday. The company removed listings of foreign seeds from the platform the same day.
The ban specifically prohibits the sale of seeds within the U.S. by non-U.S. residents and disallows the sale of seeds that would need to be imported into the country.
The company said the move is “part of [its] ongoing efforts to protect ... customers and enhance the customer experience,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Moving forward, we are only permitting the sale of seeds by sellers who are based in the U.S.,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
Some speculate the seed shipments, many of which were marked on packaging as jewelry, toys and other goods, were part of a scam intended to legitimize unrelated products for sale online. Fraudsters claim high sales and customer satisfaction to boost sales. They also pose as buyers and post fake customer reviews.
U.S. officials are still investigating the seeds that were delivered this summer to determine where they came from. Chinese officials have said that mailing labels on the packages were forged, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal.