The European Commission has cracked down on Chinese digital marketplace players Temu and fast-fashion retailer Shein amid a flood of cheap e-commerce imports into the European Union.
On February 5, it said both would be legally liable for the promotion and sale of unsafe and dangerous products on their platforms
The EC also said it would co-ordinate a joint investigation by the Consumer Protection Co-operation Network of national consumer authorities into Shein.
That was based on suspicions that the company infringed EU consumer-protection rules.
The measures echoed a similar push by the US Government that ended a trade provision in the past few days. That had been used by retailers including Temu and Shein to ship low-value packages duty-free to the US.
The EC said its concerns were triggered by some 4.6 billion low-value items under €22 imported into the EU last year, equal to 12 million parcels per day, 91 per cent of which came from China. The €4.6-billion figure was double that of 2023.
“Under certain conditions, marketplaces can also be held liable for the sale of non-compliant or dangerous products,” the EC said.
“They are exempted from liability for the illegal behaviour of the sellers, but subject to certain conditions.”
The body said cheap, unsafe imports posed unfair competition to EU sellers that followed the rules while the large number of packages being shipped had a negative impact on the environment and climate.
The EU executive said it would also propose to EU countries a handling fee for e-commerce imports to meet the cost of supervising such imports.
The EC, which in 2023 proposed scrapping the duty-free exemption for parcels below €150 as part of a reform of the bloc’s customs rules, urged EU countries to quickly adopt the measure.
Under a new measure termed “product safety sweep”, EU countries could now, for the first time, check products via an e-surveillance tool before they were shipped as to whether they were dangerous or not.
“We want to see a competitive e-commerce sector that keeps consumers safe, offers convenient products, and is respectful of the environment,” said the EU’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunnen.
Shein said it would engage with the relevant consumer agencies and the EC regarding the issue.
“We share the CPC Network’s goal of ensuring European consumers can shop online with peace of mind, and we intend to work closely with the CPC Network and the Commission to address any concerns,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Temu, which has been the subject of an EU investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) since last October, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
EC officials said they were assessing responses to their concerns and those of consumer watchdogs.
