EU to Hold Marketplaces Like Temu Liable for “Unsafe” Products

On February 5th, the European Commission announced that online marketplaces like Shein, Temu, and Amazon Marketplace will be liable for selling “unsafe” and illegal products, as concerns rise over low-quality or dangerous e-commerce imports from Asia.

The new actions announced by the European Commission require online platforms to provide relevant information before any products arrive in the EU, giving officials better tools to monitor and inspect packages. The reforms also place importer responsibilities on the platforms, rendering them liable for any traffic that doesn’t follow the EU’s fair trading rules.

Online retailers will now have to collect the respective duty and VAT to ensure that all goods comply with EU requirements. The proposal also abolishes a previous exemption for products worth less than €150 from paying duty, which now makes them subject to customs checks.

According to the commission, these concerns come after 4.6 billion goods with a value below €150 entered the European market in 2024, 91% of which came from China.

“We have seen a surge in low-value products sold by non-EU traders in online marketplaces,” said the commission vice-president, Henna Virkkunen, to media outlets. “Many of those products, they have been found to be unsafe, counterfeited or even dangerous, so they are not often meeting our standards.”

The commission will work in tandem with authorities from all 27 EU member states to instate the new measures and will reconvene a year after publication to assess their effect and publish a findings report.

“European sellers, who respect our high product standards, are at risk of being harmed by unfair practices and the sale of counterfeit goods through online marketplaces,” reads the Commission’s press release. “Customs authorities are facing an increasing workload, and risks are emerging relating to product safety and compliance, illicit goods, sustainability, and unfair competition for responsible businesses,” the document continues.

The commission also cited environmental concerns over the “large number of packages being shipped and transported.”