Amazon to penalise sellers for unsafe packages

Amazon has announced to its third-party sellers that it will be charging new penalty fees for unsafe packages, including unmarked aerosols and chemical leaks.

This follows a growing number of incident reports regarding Amazon from the US Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, albeit only in reference to a small proportion of Amazon’s volume. The number of violations jumped from a couple in 2009 to 32 in 2016 and 42 this year.

“If materials are going to be shipped with fuels inside, they should have clear warning labels and hazardous warnings,” said one report, while another cited chemicals that caused irritation to Amazon warehouse employees.

Amazon has introduced new rules regarding the packaging of common items such as aerosol products or electric devices with rechargeable batteries.

The new safety-related fees will be charged as “unplanned services”, a catch-all term for the extra work Amazon has to put in to make sure that packages meet its various shipping standards.

Source: CNBC