Amazon Bans Foreign Plant Sales In U.S. Amid Thousands Of Mystery Seed Packages From China  

Amazon announced that it has banned foreign sales of seeds in the United States after thousands of Americans received unsolicited packages of seeds in their mailboxes, mostly postmarked from China, Reuters reported

The move by Amazon comes after U.S. officials raised concerns about the ease with which seed sales can occur on e-commerce sites, creating potential threats to U.S. agriculture.

The Wall Street Journal reported that, thousands of people around the U.S. received in the mail seeds they didn’t order. Most were postmarked from China, and the shipments were often marked as jewelry, toys or other goods.

Since July, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified more than a dozen plant species ranging from morning glories to mustard in the bags of unsolicited seeds. It has cautioned Americans not to plant the seeds.

U.S. agriculture officials have said they are working with officials in China to determine who is sending the seed packages and to stop future shipments.

U.S Agriculture officials have expressed concerned the seeds could introduce invasive species, weeds, pests or diseases that might harm U.S. agriculture.

USDA has identified several seeds of noxious weeds, called dodder and water spinach. The agency has also found diseases known to occur in China, called pospiviroid and spindle tuber viroid, in seeds, as well as a few pests of significance: an immature wasp and a larval seed beetle.