READERS WRITE
Meng to Amazon: Comply with safety regulations
Editor’s note: The following
letter was addressed
by the author to Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos.
I write to address the disturbing
reports that items
found on the Amazon Marketplace
are non-compliant
with federal regulations. As
such, I urge you create more
transparency in your Marketplace
and create plans to
remove recalled or unsafe
products.
I am deeply concerned
over investigations that
found 4,152 items for sale
on your website have been
declared unsafe by federal
agencies, are deceptively
labeled, or are banned by
federal regulators. Among
these items, at least 2,000
toys and medications lack
warnings about health risks
to kids. Of the reported cases,
one included the lead
poisoning of a child from
New York City who likely
ingested lead from a musical
instrument set purchased
on Amazon. Testing showed
that this set contained
411 times the lead legally
allowed. Further, this investigation
found that products
that have been recalled by
manufacturers remain for
sale on your Marketplace.
This is simply unacceptable,
and I am appalled that
such products are still purchasable
on your site.
Amazon is a trusted
name in the market, and
consumers around the world
rely on your brand to know
that the products they are
purchasing are safe. This is
doubly true for busy parents
who use Amazon to expeditiously
order necessities for
households in an otherwise
chaotic season of life. Busy
parents, however, need to be
able to rely on the safety of
products they buy. Amazon’s
spokespeople have claimed,
“Safety is a top priority
at Amazon.”
As the founder and cochair
of the Congressional
Kids Safety Caucus, I am
committed to ensuring the
safety and well-being of
our children.
I sincerely hope that you
will do all that you can to do
the same.
Thank you for your attention
to this issue. I look
forward to your response.
Congresswoman
Grace Meng, Flushing
ON THE WEB
LAST WEEK’S TOP STORY:
Ridgewood man fatally shot in the back just steps away from his
home
SUMMARY: Cops are looking for the gunman who shot
and killed a Ridgewood man across the street from the victim’s home on
Friday night, police reported.
VISIT US ONLINE AT QNS.COM
CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES:
www.facebook.com/timesledger
www.twitter.com/TimesLedger
www.instagram.com/qnsgram
LETTERS POLICY
Letters should be typed or neatly handwritten, and those longer than 300
words may be edited for brevity and clarity. All letters must include the
writer’s name and phone number for verification. Names may be withheld
from publication if requested, but anonymously sent letters will not be
printed. Letters must be received by Thursday noon to appear in the next
week’s paper. All letters become the property of Schneps Media and may be
republished in any format.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM BT SEPT. 6-12, 2019 17
/timesledger
/TimesLedger
/qnsgram
/QNS.COM
/timesledger
/TimesLedger
/qnsgram
/TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM
