In 2024, authorities launched a formal investigation into the platform's offerings. The working group has examined how the company works to prevent illegal and unsafe products from reaching consumers.
The results show that the company has shortcomings in its internal procedures regarding product safety. Specifically, toys and other items aimed at young children have shown deficiencies in both construction and material selection.
A large percentage of the baby toys tested pose medium- or high-level safety risks, as they contain chemicals that exceed statutory safety limits or pose a risk of suffocation due to detachable parts, the EU Commission writes in a press release.
Requirement for Action Plan
Due to the deficiencies, the authority is now formally demanding requirements from the marketplace.
The company is given a three-month deadline to present a strategy that prevents the spread of unsafe goods going forward. The decision is supported by the leadership of the Commission for the Digital Agenda, which believes that the online store's processes for assessing hazards are faltering in both method and implementation.
Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, is not sufficiently specified, is not based on clear evidence and is not coherent. Now it’s time for Temu to comply with the law, says EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs Henna Virkkunen.
The Size of the Fine
The sanction amounts to 2.1 billion Swedish krona, which is a conversion of the established amount of 200 million euros.
Within the framework of the EU's Digital Services Act, the authorities have the power to impose fines of up to 6 percent of a company's global revenue. If the maximum penalty scale had been fully utilized for the e-commerce company, the sum could instead have reached up to 32 billion krona.