July 30 (Reuters) - Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is responsible

for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers on its

platform under the federal safety law and bears legal

responsibility for their recall, the U.S. consumer protection

authority said on Tuesday.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said it has

issued an order for the e-commerce giant to propose remediation

plans to notify consumers about these products and to remove

them from consumers' homes by encouraging returns or

destruction.

Amazon ( AMZN ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment.

More than 400,000 products are subject to this order, the

CPSC said, noting in particular faulty carbon monoxide

detectors, hairdryers without electrocution protection, and

children's sleepwear that violated flammability standards.

The CPSC has determined that Amazon ( AMZN ) was a "distributor" of

such defective products as they are listed on its website, even

though they are sold by third-party sellers under the "Fulfilled

by Amazon ( AMZN )" program.

"Amazon ( AMZN ) failed to notify the public about these hazardous

products and did not take adequate steps to encourage its

customers to return or destroy them, thereby leaving consumers

at substantial risk of injury," the agency said.

The CPSC in July 2021 sued Amazon ( AMZN ), forcing the company to

recall hundreds of thousands of hazardous products sold on its

platform. At the time, Amazon ( AMZN ) said it had removed "the vast

majority" of those products from its store and provided full

refunds to customers.

The CPSC on Tuesday said Amazon ( AMZN ) argued before an

administrative law judge that it was not acting as a distributor

of the products within the meaning of the Consumer Product

Safety Act, and therefore bore no responsibility for the items.

The "Fulfilled by Amazon ( AMZN )" program allows third-party sellers

to list their products on Amazon ( AMZN ), which are stored, packed and

dispatched by Amazon ( AMZN ) on order.

Late last year, the CPSC warned consumers to stop using toy

magnets from Chinese seller Doraemon, which were being sold on

Amazon.com ( AMZN ), following seven deaths from ingestion.