Dangerous toys made outside EU sold online within the bloc

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Many unbranded toys made outside Europe but sold within the EU by online retailers including Temu and Amazon are dangerous for children, an industry survey shows.

Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) said on Thursday that final results showed 80 per cent of the toys it tested did not meet EU safety standards, after buying more than 100 products on 10 online platforms: China’s AliExpress, Temu and Shein, Singapore’s Light In The Box, the US’s Amazon and Wish, France’s Cdiscount, UK’s Fruugo, the Netherlands’ Bol and Poland’s Allegro.

Platforms themselves are not responsible for goods sold by third-party sellers which are often shipped directly from China at subsidised postage rates. TIE has called for this loophole to be closed by the European Commission and for it to crack down on dangerous products being sold.

Catherine Van Reeth, director-general of TIE, said: “As long as online marketplaces are not given any legal responsibility, unsafe toys will keep flooding in from sellers who ignore EU rules. It’s time to close this loophole and make sure someone is always responsible for protecting children.

“It’s unfair on European producers who have to comply with the toughest standards in the world. The playing field is not level.”

Among the tested products were pots of Slime with levels of boron more than 13 times above the legal limit, a baby teether that broke easily and became a choking hazard, and toys with small magnets that posed a serious danger if swallowed.

One electronic drawing board, which cost 93 cents on AliExpress, had a small battery that fell out and could easily be swallowed, causing severe injury or death if not removed in time.

Many toy manufacturers, particularly in China, sell goods directly to customers, taking advantage of low postage rates on air cargo. With hundreds of millions of packages arriving every month, EU customs and enforcement officers can only check a tiny fraction.

“People don’t realise they are effectively importing the toy, there is no one in the EU liable,” said Van Reeth.

She said new EU rules targeting online platforms still fell short, because they did not impose liability for what they sold. However, they can lead to hefty fines for platforms that fail to monitor, report or remove illegal or unsafe products.

Customs procedures could be tightened but that would involve hiring tens of thousands of officers to check parcels. The EU has long delayed plans to ensure every product has a ‘deemed importer’ in the bloc responsible for safety. It could also lower the threshold at which customs duties would be imposed but van Reeth said tariffs on toys were less than 10 per cent so that would make little difference. 

Brussels did draw up a plan earlier this year to tighten regulations on ecommerce but its publication was delayed after officials decided it was not comprehensive enough.

In December the EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) comes into effect, obliging sellers to provide details such as the manufacturer’s name, brand, postal and email address, and to designate a person responsible for the product within the bloc. But TIE says it will still not make online platforms legally liable for what they sell.

In the US, the Biden administration proposed rules last month to reimpose duties for goods that cost less than $800, which are currently exempt from import levies.

Christel Delberghe, director-general of Eurocommerce, a lobby group, said that, while the EU had “the highest level of consumer protection and product safety in the world”, it increasingly fell short on enforcement, especially “when it comes to third-country traders and marketplaces”.

Temu said it acted swiftly on reports of non-compliant products. “Our quality control measures include requiring proper documentation, conducting spot checks, and continuously monitoring the platform,” the company added.

Amazon cited the “proactive measures” it has in place “to prevent unsafe or non-compliant products from being listed”, adding that the products in question have been removed pending an investigation.

Bol also said it had removed the products that TIE found to be unsafe and had started an investigation. “Some sales partners circumvent our policy, consciously or unconsciously, by uploading incorrect documents and/or information,” it said.

Allegro said it complied with all relevant laws and that it had delisted 415,000 products in the children’s category over the past year “due to safety-related infringements”.

Shein said it had rigorous compliance procedures and had removed 266 sellers this year due to violations. Cdiscount said it took proactive measures to root out “rogue traders” and it has offered refunds to customers who purchased products flagged by TIE. Fruugo said it had removed four products from sale.

AliExpress, Light In The Box and Wish did not respond to requests for comment. 

This article has been updated to reflect that the final results showed 80 per cent of toys tested were unsafe, compared with earlier preliminary estimates that put the figure at 79 per cent.

Additional reporting by Javier Espinoza in Brussels