eBay Sued by US for Alleged Environmental Violations
eBay was sued by the US Justice Department on Wednesday over allegations of selling prohibited pesticide products and devices that bypass motor vehicle emission controls.
The complaint against the online marketplace was filed on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in federal court in New York.
It accused the San Jose, California-based company of selling hundreds of thousands of products in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other environmental protection laws.
“The complaint filed today demonstrates that the EPA holds online retailers accountable for illegally selling products on their websites that can harm consumers and the environment,” EPA Deputy Administrator David Uhlmann said in a statement.
US Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said that “laws prohibiting the sale of products harmful to human health and the environment apply to e-commerce just as they do to brick-and-mortar stores.”
According to the complaint, eBay has sold more than 343,000 devices that defeat motor vehicle emissions controls and at least 23,000 unregistered, mismanufactured or restricted-use pesticide products.
eBay said in a statement that it would “vigorously defend itself” against the charges.
“We have significant resources, deploy the latest technology and ensure our teams are properly trained to prevent prohibited items from entering the market,” the company said in a statement.
“Indeed, eBay blocks and removes more than 99.9 percent of listings for products cited by the DOJ, including millions of listings each year.”
