Temu faces €200 mln penalty in EU over unsafe marketplace listings

According to the Commission, evidence gathered during the investigation showed that EU consumers were “very likely” to encounter illegal or unsafe items on Temu’s marketplace.

Officials said the company’s 2024 risk assessment relied on broad information about the e-commerce sector rather than evidence specific to Temu’s own platform. The Commission also said the company underestimated how often users could encounter unsafe products.

A shopping exercise conducted during the probe found that many tested chargers failed basic safety standards, while several baby toys contained chemicals exceeding legal limits or posed choking hazards due to detachable parts.

“Risk assessments are not box‐ticking exercises - they are the backbone of the DSA. Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive. It leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law,” Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said.

The Commission further stated that Temu did not adequately assess whether features such as recommendation systems and influencer promotion programmes could increase the spread of illegal products. Temu has until August 28 to submit an action plan outlining measures to address the violations.

As Qazinform reported earlier, the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement entered into provisional application on 1 May.