At least 85 to 95 percent of products from Shein, AliExpress and Temu do not comply with European legislation. This is according to an inspection by European market surveillance authorities. Dutch regulators want a joint approach to protect consumers.
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Dangerous products
Along with this huge increase in parcels, there is also an increasing flow of imports of prohibited goods. Of the inspected products (from Shein, AliExpress and Temu), 85 to 95 percent do not comply with European product legislation.
According to Dutch regulators, these products are often ineffective, risky for consumers or do not work properly. These include toys with loose parts, which are choking hazards for young children. Or electronics that catch fire due to overheating, or cause malfunctions. Banned substances, such as lead, are also often found in these products.
Dutch market surveillance authorities and Dutch Customs are calling for a joint approach in checking the parcels coming from Chinese platforms. According to them, all parties in the chain (production, trade and transport) of ecommerce products from outside the European Union, government and buyers must take responsibility.
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No buyers shouldn’t take responsibility. This is how we ended up here in the first place. Outsourcing work to people who aren’t equipped with the resources to do it. I wish everyone had a mass spectrometer at home but it’s likely impossible and that’s not the only tool we’d need in order to solve this problem. Also it would be grossly inefficient use of mass spectrometers.