The Chinese market place is gaining more and more fans for its very attractive prices on many everyday products. But the European Federation of Toy Industries, Toy Industries of Europe (TIE), warns parents about buying toys.
Many sites offer offers at very low prices. Like Aliaexpress and Wish, the Chinese marketplace Temu is gaining more and more followers. There are many reduced items, and promotions of up to 75% of the sale price. Enough to attract many consumers, who want to please themselves or those around them during this period of inflation. Clothing, storage or cleaning products, beauty products, jewelry, accessories, household appliances… All categories are represented to allow everyone to find what they are looking for. But the “toys” category is singled out by the European Federation of Toy Industries, Toy Industries of Europe (TIE), which purchased 19 toys for testing. Result : “none of these toys fully respected the
European Union legislation, and 18 presented a real risk to the safety of children“, specifies a press release dated February 20, 2024 which states that 95% of toys purchased on the Temu site do not comply with European safety rules.
In detail, “these toys can cause cuts, blockages of the airways, choking, strangulation, perforations and chemical dangers”, denounces the federation. For example, “a rainbow ribbon rattle intended for babies poses several hazards, including sharp edges on the metal bells that could cut, small parts that could cause choking, rigid protrusions that could lead to blocked airways . On a slime kit, boron migration was 11 times the legal limit for toys.
Following this publication, the Temu site claimed to have removed these toys from the platform during their routine inspection, and strengthened surveillance of this category of products. A reactivity considered encouraging, but which is not enough: “For each dangerous toy identified on Temu, “there are countless others that go undetected and end up in the hands of consumers across the EU“, estimates the TIE.
Following a previous study on several marketplaces in 2020, the results of which were equally worrying, the French Federation of Toy and Childcare Industries (FJP) joins the TIE to alert the authorities against these operators who sell dangerous toys for children, thus calling for appropriate legislation and a fair competitive environment. Indeed, “The EU has the strictest toy safety rules in the world, yet online platforms continue to allow the sale of toys by non-EU sellers that endanger children“, deplores Florent Leroux, President of the FJP.