EU unleashes new strategy to fight cheap online goods flooding bloc

BRUSSELS (CN) — The European Commission on Wednesday announced moves to counter a wave of what officials say are low-value, potentially “harmful” goods entering the bloc, largely from China.

A new European Commission “toolbox” launched on Wednesday is meant to address Chinese online retailers that fail to comply with EU standards for quality, environment and fair commercial practices.

“We have a duty to ensure that goods entering our market are safe and that all traders respect consumers’ rights,” Commissioner for Consumer Protection Michael McGrath told reporters in Brussels.

The plans include structural changes to EU customs rules, enforcement of existing EU laws on consumer protection, and the adoption of EU environmental rules.

The new strategy comes amid a surge of imports from e-commerce companies like fast-fashion online marketplaces Temu, Shein and retailer giant Alibaba. In 2024, the bloc received 4.6 billion low-value goods — a number that has doubled since 2023.

EU Tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the number of imported e-commerce parcels also doubled across the bloc in that time, reaching 12 million a day.

According to commission estimates, 91% of all e-commerce shipments into the EU valued at less than 150 euros ($156) came from China last year; the EU executive body suspects many goods don’t meet European standards.

“Many of those products have been found to be unsafe, counterfeit or even dangerous,” Virkkunen told reporters in Brussels, adding that the stricter EU approach “aims to address growing concerns about the impact of those products on the health and safety of European consumers.”

Six European member states currently account for around 89% of the imported goods ordered online across the bloc.

Consumer protections, environmental standards

A new Customs Union Reform Package, under negotiation by EU lawmakers and member states since 2023, should “consider” a handling fee on e-commerce packages imported directly to consumers to address the “costs of supervising compliance” with the bloc’s rules.

The set of new rules, which is expected to be in force by 2026, “would be a true game-changer to level the playing field for e-commerce players,” Maroš Šefčovič, commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, told reporters.

The EU’s executive said it plans to provide additional resources to national customs authorities to look into smaller deliveries, encouraging them to invest in AI and digital techniques to check shipments for illegal goods.

A new EU Customs Authority would help process customs data under one IT system, officials said in the plans.

New rules would “also look into the significant environmental and climate damage caused by those shipments, and also the unlevel playing field which rogue traders create for our SMEs and businesses.” SMEs are small- and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the EU plans, third-country producers would be required to pay an authorized organization to manage recycled waste from clothing and footwear.

Ongoing investigations

The EU regulator has started looking closer at Chinese platforms over the past year, specifically at the sale of non-compliant goods, the use of addictive advertisement design on their platforms and how they online-market products to consumers.

Europe’s landmark Digital Services Act requires digital companies to ensure there is an effective system in place to report and remove content with addictive designs, dark patterns and fake discounts, considered illegal under national or EU law.

Brussels also examines whether those companies violate the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, which holds provisions on unfair commercial practices.

Temu has had a DSA case open since November over a violation of the bloc’s EU consumer protection rules.

The EU regulator has also been assessing Shein’s replies to its formal request for further information and confirmed on Wednesday it was launching an investigation into the company.