In a study published on Thursday 17 October, Toy Industries of Europe (TIE), the trade association for the European toy industry, expressed alarm at the lack of conformity of toys from online trading platforms.
According to the results obtained on a hundred or so unbranded or unknown-brand products, “80% of toys purchased from third-party traders on online marketplaces do not comply with EU safety standards and could pose a danger to children”.
In particular, TIE cites platforms such as Amazon Marketplace, Cdiscount, Shein, Temu and Wish, through which third-party sellers are taking advantage of legal loopholes in European regulation to “flood the EU” with potentially dangerous toys.
The association is calling on the EU to recognise sales platforms as “economic operators” so that they can be “legally responsible for the toys they facilitate for sale” in cases where no manufacturer, importer or distributor is present in the EU.
These requests echo Member States’ concerns about e-commerce, some of which involve fears of unfair competition and a lack of compliance (see EUROPE 13491/3).
See the study: https://aeur.eu/f/dyi (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)