The EU Commission has hit Chinese online marketplace AliExpress with a hefty fine for breaching EU rules designed to prevent the sale of counterfeit and dangerous products.
€550 million in fines for selling clothing, toys and cosmetics deemed dangerous and illegal to trade; according to the Commission, the Alibaba-owned platform failed to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The Commission is scrutinising the platform for failing to assess and swiftly mitigate risks associated with the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit goods.
The Commission also said AliExpress lacked staff to detect and remove illegal produce, yet it also runs an advertising system that contributed to the spread of such items.
It also found that AliExpress failed to properly enforce its sanctions policy against traders selling illegal products, and that product compliance checks could be easily circumvented through incorrect product categorisation.
The Commission had already concluded in June that, despite a number of commitments made by the company, AliExpress remained non-compliant in several areas that have now resulted in financial penalties.
"The sale of counterfeit clothing, dangerous toys, unsafe cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products cannot be treated as an inevitable cost of online shopping. It is the result of AliExpress failing to meet its legal obligations. And the company's size is no excuse," Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said.
AliExpress has until 20 October to submit an action plan outlining how it will bring the platform into compliance.
