Recently, the European Commission fined Temu €200 million pursuant to the Digital Services Act. The platform failed to diligently identify, analyze, and assess the systemic risks posed by illegal products on the platform, as well as the harm such products cause to EU consumers.

Evidence held by the European Commission shows that EU consumers are highly likely to purchase illegal products on the cross-border e-commerce platform Temu.

The risk assessment report conducted by Temu for the year 2024 failed to meet the standards stipulated by the Digital Services Act. The specific issues are as follows:

· The report was drafted relying solely on general information regarding overall risks in the e-commerce industry, and did not incorporate actual supporting materials from the platform's own operations, including public reports and product sampling results. The report severely underestimated the probability of EU consumers coming into contact with illegal products.

· The report severely underestimated the frequency with which EU consumers might be exposed to illegal products. The results of anonymous purchasing and sampling conducted during the European Commission's investigation showed that a significant proportion of the sampled chargers failed to pass basic safety tests; multiple infant toys also possessed medium-to-high level safety hazards, with some toys containing chemical substances exceeding statutory safety standards, and other toys having easily detachable parts, posing a choking risk.

· The platform failed to reasonably assess how its own service model (including recommendation algorithms and product promotion mechanisms by cooperating influencers) would exacerbate the risk of the dissemination of illegal products.

According to the provisions of the Digital Services Act, enterprises designated as Very Large Online Platforms must diligently assess various systemic risks present in their services and implement corresponding risk control measures.

This fine comprehensively considered the nature of the infringement, the scale of affected EU users, and the duration of the infringement. Conducting compliance risk assessments is one of the core requirements of the Digital Services Act, and failing to complete the assessment as required constitutes a severe violation of the law.

Next Steps

Pursuant to the requirements of Article 75 of the Digital Services Act, Temu is required to submit a rectification plan to the European Commission by August 28, 2026, specifying rectification measures and detailing the remedies for its breach of the risk assessment obligation. Upon receiving the plan, the European Board for Digital Services will issue an evaluation opinion within one month. Thereafter, the European Commission will take another month to make a final decision and delineate a reasonable period for the execution of the rectification.

If it fails to comply with this decision, the involved enterprise will be subjected to periodic penalty payments. The European Commission will maintain continuous communication with Temu to urge its compliance with this decision and the various provisions of the Digital Services Act.

Background of the Event

The European Commission formally launched an investigation into Temu on October 31, 2024, focusing on verifying whether the platform fulfilled its obligations and assessed the systemic risks brought about by the dissemination of illegal products. In July 2025, the Commission issued its preliminary investigation findings, and recently made the final decision determining the infringement, thereby closing the case.

The basis for this infringement decision primarily includes: Temu's 2024 risk assessment report and 2025 mid-term risk assessment report; the replies provided by the platform in response to the formal requests for information by the European Commission on June 28 and October 11, 2024; relevant materials provided by third parties; and the results of anonymous purchasing and sampling conducted by independent testing institutions commissioned by the European Commission. Furthermore, data from EU customs and market surveillance authorities also corroborated that the non-compliance rate of goods sold on the Temu platform within the sampled categories remained persistently high.