Temu has been handed one of the largest penalties ever imposed on an online marketplace in Europe after the European Commission fined the Chinese retail giant EUR 200 million for failing to stop illegal and dangerous products being sold on its platform.

According to the Commission, Temu failed to properly identify and address the risks linked to illegal goods being sold through its marketplace. EU customs and market surveillance authorities also uncovered high rates of non-compliant products listed on the site.

Investigators carried out mystery shopping exercises and found that consumers had a very high chance of encountering unsafe or illegal products while shopping on Temu.

“Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive. This leaves regulators, users and the public in the dark about the true scale of the potential harm caused by illegal products sold on the platform. It is time for Temu to comply with the law,” said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.

Temu had already been under scrutiny

The European Commission launched an investigation into the Chinese shopping giant in 2024 under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), after complaints were filed by the European consumer organisation BEUC and 17 national consumer protection authorities.

In recent months, consumer watchdogs across Europe repeatedly warned that products bought on TEMU included toys and electronic devices that failed to meet EU safety standards. According to the Commission, the platform’s risk analysis was “inaccurate” and failed to reflect how frequently illegal or unsafe products could appear on the site.

Authorities identified several dangerous products during the investigation, including:

  • Cheap phone chargers that failed basic electrical safety tests
  • Baby toys that posed choking hazards because of detachable parts
  • Toys containing hazardous chemicals above permitted safety limits

The Commission said Temu had significantly underestimated how often customers could encounter illegal or dangerous goods on the platform.

European Commissioner Michael McGrath said online marketplaces must follow the same rules as everyone else operating within the European Union, adding that “consumer safety is not negotiable”.

Related: Chinese E-Commerce Giant Temu Partners with Hungarian Post

Pressure mounts on Chinese e-commerce giants

The latest penalty marks another major step in Europe’s increasingly aggressive crackdown on ultra-cheap Chinese online retailers.

Since exploding onto the European market in 2023, Temu has dramatically reshaped online shopping habits. Hungary has seen especially rapid growth; last year, Hungarian consumers reportedly spent more money on foreign webshops than on domestic online retailers for the first time.

Shoppers were drawn in by extremely low prices, endless discounts and aggressive coupon campaigns.

However, the e-commerce giant’s business model has faced mounting criticism across Europe. Retailers argue that the platform has triggered a price war that local online shops simply cannot compete with. At the same time, EU policymakers fear that the rock-bottom prices often come at the expense of proper product checks and safety standards.

Last year, Michael McGrath openly said he was shocked by the number of dangerous products discovered on Temu and Shein. In an interview with The Guardian, he said: “We have a duty to protect European consumers.”

He also highlighted the explosive growth of low-cost Chinese marketplaces in recent years, while European authorities continue to uncover increasing numbers of problematic products.

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