EU to tighten checks on goods sold by sites such as Shein and Temu

Online retailers such as China’s Shein and Temu will face strict new customs controls as part of a crackdown by the European Commission on “dangerous products” flooding the EU market.

The commission said many of the billions of low-value products that enter the EU each year were not compliant with the bloc’s laws and that European firms that respected the rules were losing out to competitors selling unsafe or counterfeit products.

The European Commission vice-president Henna Virkkunen said the rise in e-commerce had brought “many challenges” and that the EU wanted to minimise “the risks of dangerous products that threaten the health and safety of consumers. We want to see a competitive e-commerce sector that keeps consumers safe, offers convenient products, and is respectful of the environment.”

Last year, 4.6bn low-value parcels entered the EU, equivalent to 12m a day, three times more than in 2022.

In a policy paper published on Wednesday, the commission said it would work with national customs authorities in the EU’s 27 member states to focus on unsafe products sold online, including stepping up market surveillance and testing.

The increase in cheap products bought online, often from Chinese companies, is increasing pressure on customs authorities, the commission said. It called on EU lawmakers – member states and MEPs – to remove the duty exemption on imports priced below €150 (£125) and suggested they consider imposing a handling fee on retailers to cover the soaring costs of supervising compliance with EU rules.

The EU executive is also concerned about the environmental impact of the flood of cheap imports, from the pollution involved in their production and transport to the “serious challenges” posed to European recycling authorities, left to deal with low-quality, toxic or hard to recycle products.

The clampdown comes after Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on Chinese goods closed a legal loophole that allowed China’s fast-fashion companies to ship goods under $800 (£638) into the US duty-free.

Last October, the commission started legal action against the Chinese online marketplace Temu over concerns that it was failing to stop the sale of illegal products.