The European Commission says that it will carry out more checks on cheap items bought online and imported from outside of the EU.

The crackdown will focus on product safety, compliance, environmental issues and questions about fair competition.

12 million parcels per day are entering the EU and customs and product safety authorities are struggling to cope.

The number of ‘low-value items’ being bought online by consumers in Europe, and imported from outside the EU, ballooned to 4.6 billion last year, up from 2.3 billion in 2023.

According to EU figures, 91 percent of cheap goods bought online are being imported from China.

The European Commission is currently investigating popular online brands Temu and Shein which are based in Asia but have their European headquarters in Ireland.

The EU announced last year that it is investigating “the systems Temu has in place to limit the sale of non-compliant products in the European Union”. That investigation is ongoing.

The European Commission announced this morning that its consumer protection network is launching a “coordinated action” into Shein.

Neither company responded to a request for their reaction on the EU tightening up checks.

Under the Digital Services Act, online platforms must ensure that they are meeting EU consumer protection rules.

The European Commission said customs stopped 17.5 million counterfeit articles, but the current set-up has become overwhelmed by the avalanche of online sales.

Parcels worth less than €150 are currently classed as duty free.

The European Commission wants to remove duty-free status from low-value items. Doing so would raise at least €1 billion, according to an EU source.

The EU is also proposing introducing a customs fee to help fund increased work by customs officers.

The EU insists that the extra checks will not slow down deliveries and that the extra fee will be for the seller not the customer to pay.

The goal is not to disincentivise purchasing online, but rather to make sure products are compliant and customs are better equipped to enforce EU rules, an EU official added.

Anna Cavazzini, Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection in the European Parliament welcomed the move to carry out extra checks.

“An ever-growing tsunami of products from third countries is landing directly on our doorsteps bypassing overwhelmed customs or market surveillance authorities.

This means that tests for non-toxicity or checks on legal standards are not carried out. The result: many products purchased online are not safe and consumers often have no access to the manufacturers in the event of damage.”