Amazon to pay $400K to Vermont for violating rules on shipping tobacco products

Amazon will pay $400,000 to resolve a dispute over violations of Vermont's ban against shipping tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping products, directly to Vermont consumers, according to a news release.

The dispute centered on Amazon's failure to prevent third-parties from using its platform to sell the banned products in Vermont. An investigation by the Attorney General's Office found these third-party sellers showed products with "innocuous titles and pictures" to get Amazon's approval of the listings. Afterwards, the listings were altered to show prohibited products. As a result of the Attorney General's investigation, Amazon has already taken steps to better guard against these manipulations of its policies.

"The youth vaping crisis commands each of us to follow the rules put in place to protect children from harm, and Amazon failed to do that," Attorney General Charity Clark said in a statement. "Online sales of vaping products provide minors with a path to obtaining these harmful products without age verification, and I won't stand for it."

Third-party sellers of banned tobacco products didn't pay taxes either

In addition to the illegal sales of vaping products into Vermont, Clark said the sellers "bilked" the state out of taxes owed on tobacco products.

Under the agreement, in addition to paying the state $400,000, Amazon will improve its controls to prevent illegal sales into Vermont and work with the Attorney General's Office to "aid enforcement" against third-party sellers that continue to evade Amazon's tobacco controls.

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosi@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Amazon to pay $400K to Vermont for violating rules on shipping tobacco products