Cosmetics, toys, electrical appliances make up majority of EU alerts on dangerous products with 40% are imported from China, report says
In 2024, cosmetics (36%) remained the most frequently reported products posing health risks, followed by toys (15%), electrical appliances (10%), motor vehicles (9%) and chemical products (6%), according to the Safe Gate report published by the European Commission.
In terms of the type of risk associated with the products flagged, nearly half (49%) related to a chemical risk, followed by the risk of physical injury (14%), a risk to the environment (8%), a choking hazard (7%), and a risk of electrical shock (7%).
40% of the alerts related to products which originated in China, 16% originated in Italy, and 24% originated in EU/EEA countries other than Italy.
71 alerts reported to Safety Gate from Ireland last year were validated, resulting in in 221 follow-up actions by other member countries.
20% of the items were categorised as “childcare articles and children’s equipment”, 18% were electrical appliances, and 14% were toys.
Safety Gate is the main tool of the EU’s General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). It allows national authorities in 30 countries to rapidly exchange information on dangerous products found in their markets.
[Edit typo.]
I’m surprised it’s as low as 40% tbh
I would never buy cosmetics from China. Especially from AliExpress or Temu. Same for toys. You must be really dumb in order to even touch this stuff
Doesn’t say much on relative danger if you don’t include a ratio between the total imported/sales by country of origin vs total reports.
The EU is to make Temu, Shein, Aliexpress, Amazon & Co. reliable for their unsafe products.
And this move is overdue. Many of this cheap crap is a threat to people’s health and the environment. I don’t want our children to be confronted with things that pose a threat to their health.
And it is also an important social issue. If you pay a few bucks for a product -with shipment from China to Europe included- it is impossible that workers who manufacture these things receive even a remotely decent pay. In Europe and other democracies, people criticize (often rightfully) a lack of workers’ rights and call for better labour protection, unionization, and stuff like that, but the same people are happy when they can get clothing for absurdly little money to ‘shop like a billionaire.’
