New York (CNN Business) Amazon has barred foreign sales of seeds in the United States, following unsolicited mystery packets being shipped to Americans, mostly postmarked from China. The retail giant's policy on plant and seed products, which was updated on September 2, prohibits the sale of seeds imported from outside the United States or sold by non-US residents. "Moving forward, we are only permitting the sale of seeds by sellers who are based in the US," Amazon said in a statement. Amazon's new rule comes after all 50 states were issued warnings by the US Department of Agriculture in July, after mystery packages of seeds had been sent to households in the US with postmarks from China. Some packages were mislabeled, specifying they included jewelry or beads, despite only containing a clear, plastic package of seeds.

Source: CNN September 06, 2020 18:22 UTC