On Thursday 5 March, the European Commission published its annual report on ‘Safety Gate’, the European rapid alert system for dangerous products arriving in the EU.
The report gives an overview of the dangerous products notified to the portal last year, totalling 4,671 alerts. According to the Commission, there have never been so many alerts since the system was launched in 2003. The number of alerts in 2025 represents an increase of 13% compared with 2024, and more than double the number reported in 2022. On the Member State side, national authorities also sent out a record number of alerts, with 5,794 follow-up measures notified, an increase of 35% on the previous year.
These results can be explained in two ways: better use and efficiency of the system, according to the Commission, but also the growing number of items being imported into Europe from platforms known not to comply with EU law (see EUROPE 13768/7).
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.
To combat this flood (see EUROPE 13782/8), the EU has decided to introduce an initial tax of €3 on small parcels (see EUROPE 13806/23), pending implementation of the reform of the Customs Code and, in particular, the EU DataHub, scheduled for 2028 at the latest.
The most frequently reported hazardous products in 2025 were cosmetics (36%), toys (16%) and electrical appliances and equipment (11%), as in previous years.
Once again this year, Italy is a poor performer. Of the 1,193 alerts issued, only 19 led to action by the consumer protection authorities.
The Commission has announced that it will be updating the European rules on market surveillance and product conformity through a ‘European Product Act’, to be presented later this year.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/l1f (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)