AliExpress, Temu lack strict product monitoring
AliExpress and Temu are facing lingering doubts over their pledge to “voluntarily” monitor product safety, as their non-legally binding agreement with the nation’s antitrust agency carry little weight for Chinese e-commerce firms, according to experts and industry officials, Tuesday.
Such concerns have surfaced after they signed the agreement with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). But as it did not contain any details about strong regulatory punishment, critics are casting doubt over whether the agreement will be able to generate concrete outcomes regarding the blocking of hazardous product sales here.
“Sales of any life-threatening or harmful products should be prevented with the strongest level of regulations, as it is directly linked with public health,” Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, said.
Earlier, the two Chinese firms came under a severe public backlash after some children’s products sold on the platforms were contaminated with carcinogens.
“Regulatory authorities need to introduce a stricter series of regulations — such as business suspension — if they detect sales of such products on the overseas e-commerce platforms. The latest announcement leaves much to be desired in terms of its efficacy, as it does not come with such legal details.”
Regarding the concerns, the FTC argued that overseas authorities in the European Union and Australia also generated a meaningful effect by forging a similar voluntary safety agreement with e-commerce firms.
However, officials from the industry
also raised concerns as to the efficacy of the voluntary monitoring conducted by e-commerce firms.
“It is realistically impossible for them to monitor every single product and put a complete end to any sales of such dangerous items,” an official from a local retail firm said on condition of anonymity. “For instance, food delivery platform operators cannot
guarantee sanitary conditions for all the stores selling food on their platforms. This is the same case for AliExpress and Temu. It remains doubtful how they can guarantee sales of safe products simply with the non-legally binding agreement.”
FTC Chairman Han Ki-jeong said it will also push for legislation for the so-called customer safety basic act here to make platform firms engage in safer sales activities.
“We plan to introduce diverse institutional measures, so customers do not fall into a safety gray area,” Han told reporters during a press conference, Monday.
But the process is still time-consuming, so authorities are urged to display a tougher regulatory stance toward overseas platform firms to put an end to the unceasing disputes over their sales of dangerous items on their platforms, according to the retail industry official.
AliExpress Korea CEO Ray Zhang and WhaleCo Korea CEO Qin Sun made their public appearance for the agreement on Monday. WhaleCo Korea is the operator of Temu’s local business. But their response to the press here left much to be desired in that they did not share any further specific measures to guarantee their safe sales activities.
A spokesperson at AliExpress Korea said the company will continue to partner with Korean authorities to ensure the safety of local customers.
“We will keep closely collaborating with the local authorities to strengthen the protection of customers here,” the spokesperson said.