The European Commission imposed a €200 million fine on Temu, a Chinese-owned ultra-low-cost online marketplace, for not diligently identifying, analyzing, and assessing systemic risks from illegal products sold on its platform. The penalty is the largest issued under the EU Digital Services Act and follows nearly two years of investigation into whether major online platforms police illegal and harmful goods across the bloc. Investigators used mystery shopping to buy products and test them in laboratories. Many phone chargers failed basic electrical safety tests. Some baby toys showed medium to high safety risks, including chemical levels above EU limits and small detachable parts that could cause suffocation hazards. Temu must submit a remedial action plan by the end of August or face periodic penalty payments.
"The European Commission concluded that Temu had "failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks of illegal products being offered on its platform and the resulting harm to consumers in the European Union". Further penalties could follow, the commission warned, with Temu given until the end of August to submit a remedial action plan or face periodic penalty payments."
"At the heart of the case sits a mystery-shopping exercise in which investigators bought products directly from Temu and sent them for laboratory testing. The results made for uncomfortable reading. A high proportion of phone chargers failed basic electrical safety tests. Baby toys were judged to present medium to high safety risks, including chemicals such as phthalates above EU legal limits, alongside small detachable parts that posed a potential suffocation hazard for infants and toddlers."
""Risk assessments are not box-ticking exercises, they are the backbone of the DSA," she said. "Temu's risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence and is not comprehensive. It leaves regulator""
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