According to preliminary findings published on Monday 28 July, the European Commission considers that the Chinese online retailer, Temu, is in breach of the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA), in particular because of the presence of illegal products on its platform.
The Commission, which opened an investigation against the platform last October (see EUROPE 13516/9), considers that Temu does not have an adequate control system to reduce certain risks linked to the harmfulness of the products sold, particularly “baby toys” and “small electronics”, which do not comply with European standards.
“Evidence showed that there is a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products on the platform. Specifically, the analysis of a mystery shopping exercise conducted by the Commission found that consumers shopping on Temu are very likely to find non-compliant products among the offer”, said the Commission in a press release.
The Commission is still assessing the information submitted by Temu on other aspects considered problematic, received last year after the platform was designated as a ‘very large online platform’ (‘VLOP’) under the DSA (see EUROPE 13421/8).
In June 2024, the Commission called for further details on the legibility of its interface, systems to protect minors and systems to ensure transparency, product compliance and merchant traceability (see EUROPE 13442/6).
The European Union is at war with the billions of small parcels that have flooded the internal market in recent years, most of which come from China and from platforms offering knock-down prices, and which are very often illegal and non-compliant (see EUROPE 13648/7).
Last year, 4.6 billion parcels of this type entered the EU - more than 145 per second - 91% of them from China.
MEPs and European Commissioners have repeatedly stated that the DSA remains, at this stage, the best weapon the Union has to protect itself against the danger posed by these parcels, both to European consumers and to the unfair competition imposed on traders (see EUROPE 13572/5). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)