Dive Brief:

• Chinese e-retail giant Alibaba Tuesday said it has signed a voluntary safety agreement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ensure that toys and other products that the U.S. has declared unsafe will not be sold to U.S. consumers.

• The move is the latest in Alibaba’s efforts to crack down on the so-called “grey market," which involves trade through sometimes illegal or unofficial channels. 

• It comes a few months after CPSC chief Elliot Kaye criticized e-commerce sites selling dangerous goods and suggested there should be tighter regulation.

Dive Insight:

This is the latest move by Alibaba to meet the demands of U.S. regulators working to keep fake and dangerous products out of the U.S. market. These moves could go far in giving Alibaba a new level of legitimacy, something it probably needs to do well as it enters different markets. It could also help stave off any new regulations that might deal with safety and authorization issues in the future.