The European Union has imposed a fine of €200 million ($232 million) on the Chinese e-commerce giant Temu for offering illegal products on its platform.
Temu "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 on Thursday.
An investigation carried out by the commission, which included a mystery shopping exercise, concluded that many products failed safety tests.
These include unsafe chargers and baby toys containing chemicals exceeding legal safety limits and posing suffocation hazards.
"Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive," said EU Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen.
"It leaves regulators, users and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law," she said.
