Recently, the US e-commerce giant Amazon has faced a class-action lawsuit from consumers over its environmental promotion of seafood products. Consumers have accused some of the seafood sold on the Amazon platform of using labels such as "MSC-certified Sustainable Seafood", "Dolphin Safe", "Responsible Sourcing", "Sustainable", and "Wild-caught", which may lead consumers to mistakenly believe that the related products have a lower environmental impact.

  The lawsuit was filed by the law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of consumers in a US federal court, involving multiple types of seafood such as tuna and salmon sold on the Amazon platform

  Consumers question whether eco-friendly labels mislead their purchases

  The litigant contends that Amazon extensively uses environmental protection slogans on its seafood sales pages and product labels, but fails to provide sufficient information to prove the authenticity and completeness of these statements.

  The lawsuit documents point out that when consumers purchase seafood with sustainable labels, they usually believe that the products come from environmentally friendly fishing methods, the supply chain is strictly regulated, and the impact on Marine ecology is relatively low.

  However, the litigants believe that the actual catch sources of some products are not transparent, and consumers cannot confirm whether the relevant seafood comes from fishery activities that meet environmental protection requirements.

  Among them, the tracking of fishing vessels has become the focus of controversy. The lawsuit documents claim that some fishing vessels do not disclose their location data and may even turn off their automatic identification systems, making it difficult for the outside world to confirm the fishing areas, operation methods, and whether they comply with relevant management standards.

  The plaintiff also cited relevant data claiming that some wild-caught seafood imported into the US market may and will be responsible for managing the supply chain in the future.

  Consumers indicated that if they had known these circumstances in advance, they might not have purchased the relevant products or would have simply accepted a lower price.

  Involving multiple mainstream seafood brands

  This lawsuit involves several well-known seafood brands sold on the Amazon platform, including tuna, salmon and other products.

  The involved brands include Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, StarKist, and the 365 series of Whole Foods Market's own brand under Amazon.

  These brands enjoy high popularity in the canned fish and retail seafood markets in the United States.

  Among them, the parent company of Bumble Bee is FCF, a Taiwanese aquatic product trading enterprise. the parent company of Chicken of the Sea is Thai Union Group of Thailand. The parent company of StarKist is Dongwon Industries of South Korea.

  However, the enterprises to which the above-mentioned brands belong were not included in the list of defendants in this lawsuit. The lawsuit mainly targets Amazon's responsibilities regarding product display, marketing information and the use of eco-friendly labels.

  The MSC certification system has become a subject of controversy

  The litigation documents also raised questions about the MSC certification system. MSC is one of the world's most influential sustainable certification bodies for seafood, and its certified products are widely available in the retail markets of Europe and America.

  The plaintiff believes that some certification systems may be influenced by commercial interests and describes MSC as a "paid certification model".

  The litigant contends that when consumers see the MSC certification mark, they will assume that the product has undergone thorough environmental audits, but the actual supply chain situation may be more complex.

  At present, the MSC certification system is still widely adopted by a large number of retailers, brand owners and purchasing enterprises in the global fishery supply chain. Relevant certifications usually involve multiple links such as fishing management, resource assessment, ecological impact and supply chain traceability.

  This lawsuit has once again brought the relationship between environmental labels, certification systems and the responsibilities of retail platforms into the public eye.

  The US market has strengthened the regulation of green marketing

  In recent years, American consumers' demands for the sustainability of seafood have significantly increased. Large retailers generally take sustainable procurement as an important direction for brand building, attracting consumers through environmental labels, certification marks and supply chain information display.

  However, as the trend of green consumption develops, whether some environmental protection promotions are true and exaggerated has also become a concern for regulatory authorities and consumers.

  In recent years, there have been multiple lawsuits in the US market targeting "Greenwashing", involving industries such as food, clothing, and energy.

  For the seafood industry, the supply chain spans multiple links including fishing, processing, trade, import and retail, and information transparency has always been a regulatory challenge.

  Especially for categories with large international trade volumes such as tuna and salmon, the product sources involve multiple countries and regions, and the supply chain management is complex.

  This consumer lawsuit demands that Amazon assume liability for compensation, including compensatory damages, punitive damages, and consumer refunds, etc.

  As of now, Amazon has not made any public response to the lawsuit.

  As American consumers pay more attention to food sources, ecological impacts and supply chain transparency, seafood enterprises are facing stricter reviews in terms of environmental certification, label use and market promotion. For aquatic product suppliers entering the US market, how to ensure the accuracy of product information and sufficient certification basis will become an important factor in market competition.