The European Commission validates Temu's action plan after a fine of 200 million euros

The European Commission validated on Monday the action plan of Chinese online commerce giant Temu, intended to better combat the sale of illegal and dangerous products on its platform. This decision comes following a fine of 200 million euros imposed in May on Temu by the European Union, for having allowed the sale to European consumers of illegal products, including dangerous baby toys or defective chargers. The platform thus contravened its obligations under the European regulation on digital services, the DSA.

To prove the infringement, Brussels relied in particular on purchases made by its own teams, posing as ordinary customers. The operation demonstrated “that a very high percentage of the chargers ordered failed to pass basic safety tests”. A high proportion of baby toys tested under the same conditions presented "medium to high severity safety risks", such as choking risks or levels of harmful chemicals exceeding permitted thresholds.

The amount of the fine, however, remains very far from the ceiling allowed by the DSA, i.e. 6% of the total annual turnover of its parent company.

The European Commission announced on Monday that it had accepted the group's proposals, which notably undertook to evaluate the measures already introduced and to strengthen them if necessary. The commitments made by the group must make it possible to close this procedure.

Asked by AFP, the group declared: "We welcome the approval by the European Commission of Temu's action plan relating to its risk assessment obligations under the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), and we thank the Commission for the quality of the discussions we have had with it throughout this process." According to the Chinese giant, these commitments “concretely illustrate Temu’s desire to invest in a solid compliance system, in order to offer all of its users in the EU a safe and trustworthy purchasing environment”.

A major player in European online commerce

Since arriving in Europe in 2023, Temu has seen rapid growth. This platform represents the international version of Pinduoduo, a Chinese online commerce giant founded in 2015. Temu provides a vast assortment of products, ranging from clothing to toys, including decoration, tools and even high-tech items. In the European market, Temu now has 130 million users, making it a major player.

Machine-translated from French