Retailers launch coalition to fight counterfeits on Amazon

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), whose members include companies such as Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp (NYSE: TGT), said on Friday it has joined over a dozen trade groups to form a coalition to fight counterfeit goods on online platforms such as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN).

The coalition, called The Buy Safe America Coalition, will back legislation that would require digital marketplaces to verify information about third-party merchants on their platform, RILA said.

The lobbying push comes at a time when Amazon has been under scrutiny from lawmakers and the White House over the sale of counterfeit items.

In addition to RILA, the Toy Association, American Apparel & Footwear Association, the Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Trade Association and other industry groups are also joining the coalition.

Bloomberg was first to report the story.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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