Latest news with #productSafety
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Seoul asks Temu, AliExpress to pull children's products over safety concerns
Chinese e-commerce titans like Shein and Temu have seen a surge in global popularity in recent years. (EPA Images pic) SEOUL : The Seoul city government has asked online retail giants Temu and AliExpress to suspend sales of certain children's products over safety concerns, saying today that some goods far exceeded local limits for hazardous substances. Chinese e-commerce titans like Shein, Temu and AliExpress have seen a surge in global popularity in recent years, drawing in consumers with a wide range of trendy, ultra-low-cost fashion and accessories, positioning them as major rivals to US giant Amazon. Their rapid rise has triggered growing scrutiny over business practices and product safety, including in South Korea. The Seoul city government said today that it recently inspected 35 children's products sold on Temu and AliExpress – including umbrellas, raincoats and rain boots – and found that 11 failed to meet South Korea's safety standards or contained hazardous substances above local limits. In six of the umbrellas, phthalate-based plasticisers – chemicals used to make plastics more flexible — were found at levels far exceeding safety standards, the city said in a statement. Some of those products exceeded the domestic safety limit by up to 443.5 times for the chemical, while two items were found to contain lead at levels up to 27.7 times higher than the locally acceptable level. Based on the inspection results, the Seoul city government said it 'has requested that online platforms suspend sales of the non-compliant products'. It also noted that 'prolonged exposure to harmful substances can affect children's growth and health', and highlighted the need to carefully review product information before making purchases. Temu and AliExpress did not immediately reply to requests for comment from AFP. The Seoul city government told AFP the retailers have no legal obligations to comply with their request. Phthalate-based plasticisers can cause endocrine disorders, while lead exposure above safety limits can impair reproductive functions and increase the risk of cancer, Seoul authorities said. Last year, the city government said women's accessories sold by Shein, AliExpress and Temu contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels. The EU last year added Shein to its list of digital firms that are big enough to come under stricter safety rules – including measures to protect customers from unsafe products, especially those that could be harmful to minors.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
EU to clamp down on unsafe goods sold on-line
The EU is clamping down on products sold on-line that flout safety and consumer protection rules, according to Irish Commissioner, Michael McGrath . Europeans buy more than 12.6 million small items a-day on-line, a total of 4.6 billion a-year with 90 per cent of them coming from China , Mr McGrath told the Institute of Directors (IOD) on Thursday. Many of these goods break the EU's product safety or consumer protection rules, a practice the bloc intends to halt, the commissioner said. 'I will be visiting China later this year to take on that issue,' he added. READ MORE Speaking afterwards, Mr McGrath, whose brief includes consumer protection, explained that there was no question of the EU banning the purchase of legal products. However, he pointed out the commission has told websites to take down ads for goods breaching its rules following on-line product safety sweeps. The EU also has other options open to it, including revisiting customs rules and duties applied to goods bought digitally, the commissioner noted. Along with threats to consumers, flouting EU consumer and safety rules gives the businesses involved an unfair advantage over compliant companies, including those based in the union, Mr McGrath argued. The commissioner, who was speaking with IOD chief executive, Caroline Spillane, hopes new legislation for a harmonised company law system will pass next year. The system will allow businesses to opt-in to an EU-wide regime with uniform rules rather than having to negotiate different laws across each of the 27 member states. According to Mr McGrath, it will sit alongside each country's own company law codes.
Free Malaysia Today
29-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Shein to increase product safety testing after EU probe
Shein is expected to spend US$15 million on compliance initiatives this year. (Reuters pic) LONDON : Fast-fashion retailer Shein said today it would increase testing of products this year, after the EU warned of fines if it does not address the bloc's concerns about unsafe and dangerous products sold on its site. Shein said it targets 2.5 million product safety and quality tests in 2025, up from 2 million last year, and said it would spend US$15 million on compliance initiatives this year. Shein, which sells its own-branded clothes in 150 countries, also operates a marketplace for sellers of toys, gadgets, and homeware sent directly from factories mostly in China to shoppers around the world. 'Since it launched its marketplace, Shein has stopped working with more than 540 sellers over compliance breaches,' the company said. The EU's Consumer Protection Co-operation (CPC) network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission on Monday notified Shein of practices that infringe EU consumer law, giving the company a month to reply.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump called out for overreach trying to make even product safety a partisan issue
Not wanting to have your finger chopped off by a drink cooler seems like a pretty universal sentiment, but Donald Trump wants to make partisanship a factor even in this most basic government role. Mary Boyle, a commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission who Donald Trump has tried to fire, talks with Rachel Maddow about why Trump doesn't actually have the power to fire product safety commissioners, and the non-partisan nature of product safety before Trump returned to office.
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Fired CPSC commissioner tells President Trump, "See you in court"
Rich Trumka Jr., a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission until he was fired by President Trump on Thursday, said in a letter that his dismissal is illegal and that he plans to fight the action. "See you in court, Mr. President," Trumka wrote in a May 9 social media post that included a statement using the CPSC's official letterhead in which he describes his dismissal. The CPSC is an independent agency that regulates the safety of consumer products, from toys to appliances. It's the group that often handles recalls of items such as kitchen ranges that can set fires and steam cleaners that have burned users. In his statement, Trumka said he was given no reason for his firing, but that his dismissal came after he and two other commissioners voted against allowing members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to work at the agency. Trumka, who was appointed to a 7-year term by President Biden in 2021, said he pushed back against DOGE because "if these people are allowed in to govern our agency, they will gut it and the result will turn back the clock on product safety." He added, "CPSC's livesaving work is far too important to take this lying down." In addition to Trumka, two other commissioners on the five-person Consumer Product Safety Commission were fired on Thursday, according to the Washington Post. All three were Democrats, the publication said. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, however, in a press briefing Friday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the CPSC falls under the executive branch, giving the president the right to fire employees there. Consumer Reports issued a statement condemning the CPSC firings, and said that the commissioners should be reinstated immediately. "This is an appalling and lawless attack on the independence of our country's product safety watchdog," said William Wallace, director of safety advocacy for Consumer Reports, in an email. "Anyone who cares about keeping their family safe should oppose this move and demand that it be reversed." DOGE firings DOGE has sought to cut federal workers in the name of reducing fraud, waste and abuse. But many of its firings have had to be reversed, either because the group mistakenly fired essential workers — like bird-flu experts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture — or after a court ruled the dismissals were illegal. DOGE's savings have largely been wiped out by costs related to those issues as well as lost productivity, according to a recent analysis by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan nonprofit that focuses on the federal workforce. The CPSC firings come after the Trump administration dismissed other officials at independent agencies, including the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board this week and a member of the National Labor Relations Board in January. "If my illegal firing is allowed to stand, it will clear the way for the Administration and its lapdogs to cripple the lifesaving functions of this agency to benefit their wealthy donors," Trumka added.
