The European Commission announced on Monday that Temu, the Chinese online marketplace owned by PDD Holdings, is violating European Union rules by not doing enough to stop the sale of illegal products through its platform.
EU warns Temu over safety violations linked to illegal products – Reuters
According to the Commission, its preliminary findings indicate a high risk for EU consumers to encounter unsafe or non-compliant goods on Temu, including products such as baby toys and small electronics.
“Evidence showed that there is a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products on the platform,” the Commission said in an official statement. “Specifically, the analysis of a mystery shopping exercise found that consumers shopping on Temu are very likely to find non-compliant products among the offer, such as baby toys and small electronics.”
The Commission criticized Temu’s risk assessment procedures, calling them inadequate and overly general. According to EU regulators, the company’s evaluations were based on broad industry trends rather than the specific risks present on its own platform.
If the Commission’s findings are confirmed, Temu would be in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) — sweeping legislation designed to make large digital platforms more accountable for user safety in the EU.
“Such a decision could entail fines of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider and order the provider to take measures to address the breach,” the Commission said.
A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that Temu will be allowed to respond to the allegations in the coming weeks, though no exact deadline was given.
A Temu representative said the company plans to “cooperate fully” with EU authorities throughout the process.
The announcement pertains to one aspect of a wider investigation into Temu’s operations under the DSA. The platform is also under scrutiny for other possible breaches, including the use of addictive interface designs, the opacity of its recommendation algorithms, and insufficient data access for independent researchers.
