The Seoul metropolis authorities has requested on-line retail giants Temu and AliExpress to droop gross sales of sure kids’s merchandise over security issues, saying Friday that some items far exceeded native limits for hazardous substances.
Chinese language e-commerce titans like Shein, Temu and AliExpress have seen a surge in international recognition in recent times, drawing in customers with a variety of stylish, ultra-low-cost vogue and equipment—positioning them as main rivals to U.S. big Amazon.
Their speedy rise has triggered rising scrutiny over enterprise practices and product security, together with in South Korea.
The Seoul metropolis authorities mentioned Friday it just lately inspected 35 kids’s merchandise offered on Temu and AliExpress—together with umbrellas, raincoats and rain boots—and located that 11 failed to satisfy South Korea’s security requirements or contained hazardous substances above native limits.
In six of the umbrellas, phthalate-based plasticizers—chemical compounds used to make plastics extra versatile—had been discovered at ranges far exceeding security requirements, the town mentioned in an announcement.
A few of these merchandise exceeded the home security restrict by as much as 443.5 occasions for the chemical, whereas two objects had been discovered to include lead at ranges as much as 27.7 occasions increased than the domestically acceptable degree.
Primarily based on the inspection outcomes, the Seoul authorities mentioned it “has requested that on-line platforms droop gross sales of the non-compliant merchandise”.
It additionally famous that “extended publicity to dangerous substances can have an effect on kids’s progress and well being”, and highlighted the necessity to fastidiously evaluation product info earlier than making purchases.
Temu and AliExpress didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from AFP.
The Seoul authorities instructed AFP the retailers haven’t any authorized obligations to adjust to their request.
Phthalate-based plasticizers could cause endocrine problems, whereas lead publicity above security limits can impair reproductive capabilities and enhance the chance of most cancers, Seoul authorities mentioned.
Final 12 months, the town authorities mentioned girls’s equipment offered by Shein, AliExpress and Temu contained poisonous substances generally tons of of occasions above acceptable ranges.
The European Union final 12 months added Shein to its record of digital corporations which are large enough to return below stricter security guidelines—together with measures to guard clients from unsafe merchandise, particularly people who might be dangerous to minors.
