"We were pleased to see the House pass the Inform Consumers Act, an important first step in the effort to keep counterfeits off popular marketplaces and out of consumers homes", stated Stephen Lamar, president and CEO of the The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (Inform) Consumers Act is meant to address the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerous goods by requiring "high-volume" sellers to provide additional information to online marketplaces and consumers.

Additionally, AAFA highlighted that the US must assume the lead in efforts to eradicate illicit and counterfeit items that continue to thrive. "This means the Senate now needs to take up and pass this measure and both chambers need to pass the complementary Shop Safe Act", urged the AAFA president and CEO. The Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-Commerce (Shop Safe Act) bill aims to encourage online platforms to adopt practise that will prevent third-party sellers from listing counterfeit products for sale, thus reducing the availability of harmful products in the e-market.

The association believes that the enforcement of both the Inform Act and the Shop Act will help to keep dangerous products from multiplying online. AAFA recalled that in a study conducted earlier this year with Intertek (an international total quality assurance provider), in which a range of hazardous chemicals and heavy metals were tested, it found that 36.2% of the products tested failed to comply with the US product safety standards.

"Never has the counterfeit problem been at the scale it is today, from dupe influencers, fraudulent advertisements, and fake websites to the actual counterfeit products being sold to unwitting consumers across platforms – this is a full online destructive digital value chain. AAFA calls for immediate action to bring reprieve to U.S. businesses and to protect consumers until long-term solutions are realized", concluded the association in a statement.