On Wednesday 16 April, the European Commission published its annual report on ‘Safety Gate’, the European rapid alert system for dangerous products arriving into the EU.
The report gives an overview of the dangerous products notified to the portal last year, totalling 4,137 alerts. According to the Commission, there have never been so many alerts since the system was launched in 2003.
This increase can be explained in two ways, firstly by the resurgence in the number of low-value goods imported mainly from China (see EUROPE 13571/17).
The Commission also claims that this high level of alerts is a result of the “growing effectiveness and confidence in the system”, with national authorities more inclined to use the platform to report and deal with potential threats to consumer safety.
At European level, cosmetics remain the products most frequently reported as presenting health risks (36% of alerts), followed by toys (15%) and electrical appliances (10%).
Moreover, Italy is the country from which the most alerts have been issued - 1,089 over the year - but where, on a pro rata basis, the least action has been taken by the consumer protection authorities: only 33.
According to Michael McGrath, the Commissioner responsible for consumer protection, the European system is all the more vital now that there is an unprecedented increase in small, low-value parcels, mainly from e-commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein, which have been criticised by the Commission for failing to comply with European standards.
“If you look at the exact data, a significant proportion of the products that are determined to be dangerous come from China”, Michael McGrath said at the presentation of the report, indicating that he was working “closely” with the Chinese authorities to “resolve the root of the problem”.
The non-compliance of these packages, 12 million of which enter the EU every day, is an issue that the Commission has promised to address, in light of the numerous alerts issued by member countries and consumer protection associations (see EUROPE 13598/7).
According to Michael McGrath, the Commission would benefit from taking a more proactive role in implementing European consumer protection policy, ideally as “an investigative and enforcement body, rather than its current role as a coordinator” of actions. “It’s an idea we’re looking into”, he said.
In February, the European Commission presented its action plan to combat the abuses of e-commerce, including reform of the European Customs Code and better use of digital regulations (see EUROPE 13572/5).
To see the Safety Gate 2024 report: https://aeur.eu/f/gfw (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)