US President Joe Biden has signed the 2023 omnibus spending package, which includes the INFORM Consumers Act that retail organizations have been advocating for.
“By signing the INFORM Consumers Act into law, President Biden has sent a clear and enforceable signal that stolen and counterfeit products will no longer be left unchecked on e-commerce platforms in 2023 and beyond,” said Michael Hanson, Buy Safe America Coalition spokesperson. “This multi-year effort to pass INFORM would not have been possible without the legislation’s champions, Senators Bill Cassidy and Dick Durbin and Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Gus Bilirakis, who fought tooth-and-nail to get this measure into law. We are also grateful for the unwavering support of Buy Safe America Coalition members, who extend across a multitude of industries and sectors and worked hand-in-hand to bring transparency to online marketplaces. This bill is a resounding win for the millions of consumers, businesses, and retail workers whose lives have been upended by counterfeiting and retail theft enterprises.”
The INFORM Consumers Act will require online marketplaces to verify the identities of high-volume third-party sellers and disclose basic information to shoppers and law enforcement. The measure has attracted broad support from retailers, e-commerce platforms, law enforcement officials, manufacturers, and consumers, and is the only piece of legislation that addresses both stolen and counterfeit merchandise being sold online.
“Retailers and law enforcement remain firmly committed to keeping employees and consumers safe from violent theft rings,” said Ben Dugan, Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail (CLEAR) President. “But criminals’ ability to sell merchandise by way of e-commerce sites has made this increasingly difficult. The INFORM Consumers Act will establish robust consumer safeguards and equip law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on illicit activity.”
Retail theft has cost retailers over $69 billion annually and is responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs. A study on the counterfeit industry estimates that just 21 product types account for over 60 percent of all the contraband goods entering the US—a loss of nearly $54.1 billion in sales.
The Buy Safe America Coalition was launched in August 2020 by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), leading efforts to prevent stolen and counterfeit products from proliferating on online marketplaces. Since its inception, the Buy Safe America Coalition has grown to include more than 50 responsible retailers, consumer groups, manufacturers, intellectual property advocates, and law enforcement officials.
