The EU and 29 European countries require Temu to rectify its improper behavior

On November 8, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, and the cooperation organization established by the consumer protection departments of 29 European countries instructed the Chinese e-commerce platform “Temu” to correct its illegal business practices. At the same time, it warned that if countermeasures are not taken in time, the platform will be fined.

The business model adopted by Temu is to provide low-priced goods by taking advantage of the tariff mechanism of tax exemption for low-priced goods. In Europe, Temu is widely welcomed by young consumers.

The European “Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network” is a cooperation organization composed of consumer protection departments of 27 EU member states and Norway and Iceland. The organization discusses relevant investigations and sanctions with the European Commission.

The European Commission has begun an investigation into Temu in accordance with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires the removal of illegal content.

This time, it stated that if Temu does not rectify as soon as possible, in addition to the penalty regulations of the Digital Services Act, it may also be fined at the CPC member state level.

The CPC pointed out that Temu’s business practices violated the consumer protection laws of various countries. The CPC considers the “gamification” mechanism as a problem. This mechanism is that after opening the app, a wheel with an amount of money starts to spin, and then consumers are induced to buy products by saying that they have won discount coupons.

It requires Temu to stop giving the impression that products are discounted when they are not actually discounted. The CPC also believes that it is inappropriate to put pressure on consumers to buy by displaying a purchase deadline or “limited quantity of products”.

The CPC also stated that the “product reviews” that consumers use as a reference when purchasing products have also found content of questionable credibility. It requires Temu to take measures to remove false content.