[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9799 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9799
To establish a bill of rights for third-party sellers on critical
trading partners, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 21, 2026
Ms. Balint (for herself, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Carson, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Jayapal, Mr.
Johnson of Georgia, and Ms. Simon) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a bill of rights for third-party sellers on critical
trading partners, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Online Sellers' Bill of Rights Act
of 2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) small and independent businesses depend on dominant
online marketplaces to access consumers and scale their
operations;
(2) these platforms frequently exert outsized power over
third-party sellers without sufficient transparency or due
process; and
(3) sellers face business risk from account suspensions,
inventory holds, and withheld funds without timely notice or
recourse.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide due process and
transparency protections to third-party sellers using critical trading
partners, while maintaining a fair and competitive online marketplace.
SEC. 3. SELLERS' BILL OF RIGHTS.
(a) In General.--The Federal Trade Commission shall adopt rules to
promote fair terms between critical trading partners and online sellers
taking into consideration public health, safety, and other factors that
the Commission deems relevant. Such rules shall include the following:
(1) Inventory holds.--
(A) A critical trading partner shall not hold,
detain, or restrict access to a seller's inventory for
more than 30 calendar days.
(B) After such period, the platform shall release
the inventory unless it has met a legally valid
standard of proof that the goods are counterfeit or
otherwise unlawful.
(C) The platform shall notify the seller in writing
of any inventory hold within 72 hours of the hold,
detailing the rationale and applicable appeal
procedures.
(2) Fund holds.--
(A) A critical trading partner shall not withhold
disbursement of a seller's funds for more than 30
calendar days unless the platform demonstrates, by a
preponderance of evidence, that the funds are derived
from unlawful transactions.
(B) Sellers must be notified in writing of any
hold, including the factual basis and opportunity for
appeal.
(C) The platform shall notify the seller in writing
of any frozen funds within 72 hours of the hold,
detailing the rationale and applicable procedures.
(3) Gated products.--If a platform imposes a new
restriction on a product or category after the product has been
received into its fulfillment network, the seller shall be
allowed to sell through remaining inventory for a reasonable
period of not less than 30 calendar days or have the inventory
returned at no cost and release funds from sales of the product
on the agreed upon schedule unless direct evidence exists that
the product is counterfeit or unlawful.
(4) Policy changes.--
(A) Critical trading partners shall provide sellers
with not less than 30 days' advance written notice of
any material policy changes affecting--
(i) product eligibility;
(ii) category or listing restrictions;
(iii) compliance or documentation
requirements; or
(iv) commission or fee structures.
(5) Transparency in investigations.--
(A) If a seller is subject to investigation,
account deactivation, or listing suspension, the
platform must provide--
(i) the specific policy or rule alleged to
have been violated;
(ii) the relevant facts, reports, or
documentation;
(iii) the proposed penalty; and
(iv) specific steps the seller may take to
appeal or resolve the issue and an anticipated
timeline for resolution of that appeal.
(B) Generic or templated responses shall not
satisfy these requirements.
(6) Presumption of innocence.--
(A) No seller may be subject to suspension,
deactivation, inventory withholding, or fund freezing
solely on the basis of suspicion.
(B) The burden of proof shall lie with the platform
to demonstrate a seller's violation of applicable rules
or laws.
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Rulemaking Authority.--The Federal Trade Commission shall issue
rules as necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act within 180
days of enactment.
(b) Enforcement Authority.--A violation of this Act, or standards
issued pursuant to this Act, by a person, partnership, or corporation
operating an online platform in or affecting commerce shall be an
unfair method of competition in violation of section 5(a)(1) of the
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
(c) Parens Patriae.--Any attorney general of a State may bring a
civil action in the name of such State for a violation of this Act as
parens patriae on behalf of natural persons residing in such State, in
any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the
defendant, and may secure any form of relief provided for in this
section.
(d) Private Right of Action.--Notwithstanding any mandatory
arbitration agreement, any person who shall be injured by reason of
anything prohibited by this act may bring a civil action in any
district court of the United States in the district in which the
defendant resides or is found or has an agent, without respect to the
amount in controversy, and shall recover threefold the damages by the
person sustained, and the cost of suit, including a reasonable
attorney's fee.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Critical trading partners.--The term ``critical trading
partner'' means any trading partner that has the ability to
restrict or impede--
(A) the access of a business user to its users or
customers; or
(B) the access of a business user to a tool or
service that it needs to effectively serve its users or
customers.
(2) Third-party seller.--The term ``third-party seller''
means any person or entity that sells goods on a dominant
platform but does not own or control the platform.
(3) Legally valid standard of proof.--The term ``legally
valid standard of proof'' means preponderance of the evidence
or another applicable legal threshold as determined appropriate
by the Federal Trade Commission.
(4) Gated product.--The term ``gated product'' means any
product or category restricted by the platform to approved
sellers only.
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit
any authority of the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission
under the antitrust laws (as defined in the first section of the
Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12)), the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 41 et seq.), or any other provision of law or to limit the
application of any law.
(b) Effect on Seller Status Under Other Law.--Nothing in this Act,
including the definitions in section 5, or the designation of a person
as a third-party seller, may be construed to determine whether a
critical trading partner is a seller, merchant, distributor, supplier,
manufacturer, or any similar party under any Federal or State law,
including any law governing product liability, breach of warranty, or
consumer protection.
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be
unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, and the
application of the provision held to be unconstitutional to any other
person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.
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