"Low on red tape"

Temu, Shein: Habeck wants to abolish duty-free limit

The German Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate, Robert Habeck

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Germany's Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to tighten controls on Asian shopping portals such as Temu and Shein and abolish the 150-euro duty-free limit. This is the result of an e-commerce action plan drawn up by his ministry.

"Anyone shopping online must be able to rely on safe and harmless products. Toxic substances do not belong in clothing or toys," said Habeck. German and European companies should "not be disadvantaged by others circumventing the current rules".

Among other things, the action plan provides for closer cooperation between national and European market surveillance authorities and customs. These should therefore carry out coordinated checks. The ministry is also in favor of expanding the powers of the authorities. For example, they should be able to take direct measures against trading platforms. The abolition of the duty-free limit should take place "quickly and with little bureaucracy".

Test purchases and digital product passports
The Asian online platforms primarily use air freight. For orders from non-EU countries, no fees have to be paid on import for parcels with a value of less than 150 euros.

Habeck is calling on the EU Commission to collect data on infringements by the portals in a "data hub". This would allow misconduct to be uncovered and sanctioned. Test purchases should be carried out by the EU Commission in order to find out whether breaches of the law occur systematically and remain unchanged over time.

Deterrent effect through sanctions
"Sanctions must be set high enough to have a deterrent effect," it says. The ministry also wants to oblige manufacturers to store information on product safety, environmental and health protection in the digital product passport.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the authorities are increasingly finding deficiencies and breaches of regulations in products from third countries that are shipped to the EU. This applies in particular to providers such as Temu and Shein. In order to ensure fair competition and punish violations of the law, compliance must be consistently enforced.

Shein and Temu are very popular. However, trade representatives, politicians and consumer advocates criticize product quality, lack of controls and unfair competitive conditions, among other things. The portals have recently repeatedly rejected the accusations.