The European Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, is on a five-day visit to China until Friday 7 November, at a time when many Chinese online trading platforms are under fire from European critics (see EUROPE 13631/15).
Accused of flooding the European market with non-compliant, dangerous and polluting products, Shein, Temu and AliExpress are the subject of several investigations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13574/10). The Commissioner is due to hold talks with Chinese officials and company representatives to explain “the details of EU product safety and consumer protection standards”.
This visit comes forty-eight hours after Shein was reported to the French justice system: on Saturday 1 November, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) announced that it had reported the sale of “childlike sex dolls” on Shein to the public prosecutor.
The Minister for the Economy has since threatened to ban the platform from the French market “if this behaviour is repeated”.
The Commission has stated that it is following the case closely and that Shein is being “strictly monitored” by the European authorities.
The massive influx of products from Chinese platforms is placing a strain on European customs (see EUROPE 13697/8), which last year recorded a record number of dangerous products entering the EU (see EUROPE 13623/11).
“If you look at the exact data, a significant proportion of the products that are determined to be dangerous come from China”, Mr 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”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)