The European Union has imposed a €200 million fine on Chinese-owned online retailer Temu for allowing the sale of illegal products, including dangerous baby toys and defective chargers.
“The company 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,” the European Commission said in a statement.
This is the media release from the EU:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1178
Maybe the ACCC should also be taking action.
The consumer watchdog is suing Amazon alleging it sold kids unicorn backpacks on its online marketplace which failed to comply with mandatory button battery safety warnings.
It is the first Federal court case taken by the ACCC against an online marketplace over alleged non-compliance with product safety standards.
Many of these online selling marketplace type platforms appear to be finding out the hard way, that they aren’t just advertising platforms for other sellers.
It could spell the end of those marketplaces which allow sellers to sell anything, without vetting what it being sold. It poses potentially risks to retailer based marketplaces such as Bunnings, Big W and such like.
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Products banned as dangerous for children may still be listed by online sellers, Choice warns. (AAP: Supplied)
Products banned as dangerous for children may still be listed by retail giants including Amazon, Temu, AliExpress and eBay.
A consumer group has warned due to the legal loopholes regarding online sales, nothing generally gets done about the breaches until someone is hurt.
CHOICE has issued a complaint to the consumer watchdog and is urging the Australian government to take action against retailers who continue to sell dangerous products.
Potentially dangerous toys and other products are finding their way into Australians homes due to legal loopholes that mean online retail giants may take no responsibility for the items they stock.
Products that may already be banned in Australia are being sold by retail giants including Amazon, Temu, AliExpress and Ebay, consumer group CHOICE has warned.
These include fake novelty cigarettes that create a puff of smoke, cigarette lighters that look like toys and removable tongue studs that can easily come loose and become choking hazard.
Also of serious concern are flammable garments and products containing small choking hazards and potentially deadly button batteries, which may be in breach of safety standards.
Due to the legal loopholes regarding online sales, nothing generally gets done about the breaches until someone is hurt, CHOICE director of campaigns Andy Kelly said.
The backpack being sold by Amazon in Australia, which the ACCC says does not have the proper safety warnings. (Supplied)
Mr Kelly described the scale of unsafe products for sale as frightening; particularly those designed for infants and children.
CHOICE has issued a complaint to the consumer watchdog and is urging the Australian government to take action against retailers who continue to sell dangerous products.
The consumer watchdog is suing Amazon alleging it sold children’s unicorn backpacks on its online marketplace that failed to comply with mandatory button battery safety warnings.
However, Mr Kelly said online retailers may claim only to act as an intermediary, shifting blame onto third-party suppliers that could exist anywhere in the world.
“That gap in the law really allows online marketplaces to continue to get away with selling these unsafe products with little consequence,” he told AAP.
CHOICE is calling on the Commonwealth government to introduce a general safety provision that would place obligations on all businesses to ensure the products they sell are safe.
Similar provisions already exist in the European Union, offering an existing framework to work from.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently took legal action against Amazon for allegedly stocking unicorn backpacks for toddlers that failed to include a warning they contained button batteries.
Mr Kelly described the case as an interesting test of whether Amazon would be held accountable.
The ACCC is also investigating the online supply of games and toys containing potentially deadly small high-powered magnets (Supplied: ACCC)
On Tuesday, the ACCC said it was also investigating the online supply of games and toys containing potentially deadly small high-powered magnets, despite the magnets being banned.
Several chess-style board games sold in Australia, including “magnetic chess” and “magnetic battle chess”, contain small magnets that if swallowed can cause life-threatening injuries.
The consumer watchdog sent take-down requests for the products to Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo, said ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe.
Each website has since removed the listed items from their online stores.
A statement from Amazon says customer safety is its top priority and AI models and dedicated teams are used to continuously monitor its listed products to identify and remove any that may pose a risk.
In a statement, Temu said they had added similar listings to a platform-wide block-list to prevent the product being relisted.
An eBay spokesperson said consumer safety was top priority and dedicated contact points were used for regulators to remove flagged listings within two days.
Apart from eBay, each website has also offered a refund to customers.
Another group is children’s car seats. Australia has stricter laws than most jurisdictions including a seat has to be compliant with AS1754 and have the compliance tag affixed or it is not recognised as a car seat and the driver is subject to a $2,000 fine if caught.
Furthermore backless boosters/cushions are prohibited. Yet the platforms are rife with EU, US, and Asian compliant products, possibly some that have no compliance anywhere, all apparently with eager buyers here because they are easy to use, low cost, and parents think they are doing the right thing because of the advertisements.
