AliExpress accused of selling illegal products
AliExpress is facing yet another round of public backlash for selling illegal goods and products that are potentially harmful to consumers here. This has prompted the Chinese e-commerce platform to reevaluate and strengthen its internal monitoring system, as reported by an industry official on Wednesday.
Industry experts express concerns that AliExpress’s business practices could undermine the fair competition ecosystem within the nation’s e-commerce industry. Additionally, they warn that customers may suffer adverse consequences for purchasing potentially life-threatening and unsafe items from its platform.
For instance, the Chinese platform faced significant criticism for selling melatonin capsules, despite the fact that the sleep supplement is classified as a prescription-based medicine, and its importation is also prohibited in the country. Coupang, a rival online retailer in Korea, for instance, said it sells sleep supplements that do not contain melatonin even though it uses the word in its branding of some products.
Officials from the e-commerce industry attributed AliExpress’s weak product monitoring system to the latest controversy. They added that it seems unlikely that Korean authorities will impose heavy sanctions on such large overseas e-commerce firms, citing concerns over potential trade conflicts with China, the world’s second-largest economy.
“AliExpress already pledged to step up monitoring of its platform during the National Assembly’s annual audit last year, but it appears that little progress has since been made,” an official at a major e-commerce firm here said.
According to the official, authorities in Korea, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, should adopt a more stringent stance against such violations of the law. This is necessary to prevent similar overseas platform firms from engaging in similar sales activities in the future.
“But the government remains reluctant to do so amid fears of potential trade retaliation from such big economies abroad,” he said. “Under the harsh reality, it will be very tough for Korea to create a level playing field across the e-commerce industry, and local firms will end up losing more ground.”
Against this backdrop, a spokesperson for AliExpress’ operations in Korea announced plans to intensify monitoring of sales involving such products.
“We are still monitoring problematic products in real-time and take immediate action when finding such items on sale,” the official from a public relations agency for AliExpress here said. “AliExpress will take steps to more thoroughly monitor the items by improving our internal search monitoring system.”
AliExpress acknowledges the current situation and is committed to enhancing its services while tailoring them to the Korean market.
“We respect the Korean market and the industry here, so AliExpress will garner best efforts to resolve such problems down the road,” the official said.