EU Chemicals Enforcers Target Amazon, EBay, Other Online Vendors

Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. are among the online vendors in the sights of the European Union’s chemical safety inspectors.

The European Chemicals Agency said Monday inspectors across the bloc had started checks on chemical products sold online for compliance with the EU’s REACH and other chemicals laws.

Checks would continue through 2020 and would cover all types of online vendors, including websites aimed at consumers and specialist users of chemicals, and platforms including Amazon and eBay, the agency said.

Inspection authorities in EU countries would check if online purchasers are sufficiently informed about chemical hazards, and would also check the composition of products sold online, including toys and clothing, for undeclared or excessive hazardous substances, the agency said.

“It wouldn’t surprise us if they do find a lot of products that really shouldn’t be there,” said Anton Lazarus, spokesman for the European Environmental Bureau, an advocacy group.

A project by nonprofit groups in 2019 to test skin lightening creams bought in shops and online, including from Amazon and eBay, found illegal levels of mercury in 60% of products, and levels of noncompliance with REACH (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals) are likely to be similar, Lazarus said.

Vendor Compliance

Amazon and eBay said they require vendors to comply with the law.

“The importance of our customers’ safety is paramount and we have no tolerance for unsafe, banned, recalled, or illegal products on our marketplaces,” eBay said in an emailed statement.

EBay bans some categories of product containing hazardous substances and uses an algorithm to prevent the listing of unsafe products, the statement said.

Amazon said in a statement to Bloomberg Environment that “we require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and have developed industry-leading tools to prevent noncompliant products from being listed in our stores.”

Previous EU-wide chemicals enforcement projects have found nearly 90% noncompliance rates with REACH’s complex requirements on providing information about hazardous substances in products.