Amazon Registration Certificates and Seller Support

Amazon Registration Certificate

A recent post on Amazon Registration Certificates generated a number of questions along with shared frustrations. In the previous post, I talked about selling on Amazon in an FDA regulated category, like health and beauty, where Amazon requires, among other hurdles, to be listed with a certificate from the FDA. The FDA does not issue certificates of registration. The FDA, under the Food and Drug Act, is even prohibited from releasing certain information about a company’s registration to the public. Yet, Amazon requires it.

What becomes clear in the questions and comments is the chaos, disarray, and, at times, outright nightmare Seller Support can be on what constitutes a valid certificate. The FDA not only does not issue registration certificates, the Agency does not set requirements or regulations for registration certificates.

Nor does it appear that Amazon or Seller Support operate with a set of requirements for the certificates requested. This is something I’ve raised with Amazon’s legal department. It is incredibly frustrating working with Seller Support, where generic boilerplate responses are given when certificates are refused. I’ve worked on matters where Amazon Seller Support refused a certificate because it lacked a bald eagle or the eagle wasn’t big enough, or because the certificate lacked the word “valid.” Currently, Seller Support has stated that only printed and scanned certificates are valid.

The question I raised with Amazon’s legal department was whether Amazon was effectively privatizing the regulatory role played by the FDA. In one case, Amazon Seller Support refused a certificate on a Class I device because the initial registration number was not proof of registration. I sent an e-mail from the FDA’s Center for Devices confirming the initial registration number was sufficient to begin sales. Seller Support won’t budge. Interactions like this raise serious questions.

When working with Seller Support, the key is persistence. For my clients, I will continue to tweak the certificate to capture the information requested. There is also growing recognition of the certificates issued by my firm due to repeated inquiries with Seller Support and the legal department. I also find a cover letter explaining the legal basis for the certificate helpful.

Continue to share your Amazon registration certificate frustrations by commenting below or sending an inquiry to our Washington D.C. or Charlotte NC offices. The more we learn, the more pressure we can place on constructive change.