Six EU nations, including the Netherlands, Germany and others are putting more pressure on Brussels to clamp down on Temu and SHEIN, two e-commerce platforms that are allegedly selling occasionally hazardous goods to customers.
German State Secretary for Economic Affairs Sven Giegold stated, “Every day, hundreds of thousands of parcels arrive at our homes, mainly from China, with goods that do not comply with European market rules,” before a meeting with colleagues in Brussels.
Germany requested that the European Commission “take all necessary measures” to “rigorously implement” the EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA) in a document seen by sources. Germany cited concerns about unfair competition and potential harm to consumers.
Temu and SHEIN are mentioned explicitly in the paper. It has the backing of Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, and France. Temu and SHEIN were asked to provide information by the Commission at the end of June in order to confirm that they complied with European consumer protection regulations. Brussels has mostly questioned these Chinese-originated platforms over the steps they take to facilitate the reporting of illicit goods.
Other requests are related to the protection of minors, the openness of product recommendation systems, the traceability of sellers on these platforms, or misleading interfaces (“dark patterns”) that permit the manipulation of user behaviour.
The DSA, which went into effect on 17th February, imposes requirements or prohibitions on these different topics. Both businesses affirmed that they would be willing to work with the authorities. In the case that regulations are shown to have been broken, information requests are the initial step that may lead to the formal investigation’s start as well as severe financial penalties.
At the end of April and the end of May, respectively, Brussels added SHEIN and Temu to the roster of digital behemoths that are under the direct supervision of the Commission and are subject to tighter regulations under the DSA. There are twenty-four key platforms on this list: Amazon, AliExpress, Google Shopping, Facebook, X, Instagram, and so on.