Stop unsafe online imports

Every day, millions of parcels ordered by consumers shopping online arrive in the European Union. Often, these parcels contain products that do not comply with EU standards, that are unsafe, or even dangerous. Currently, the European legislator is negotiating a reform of the EU customs union. This is an opportunity to increase consumer protection against unsafe products. From the perspective of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), online marketplaces should take more responsibility for the safety of the products that are sold over their platforms.

vzbv’s demands:

• To anchor consumer protection as a core objective of the customs union – no deletion in the trilogue
• To make online marketplaces responsible and liable as “deemed importers” for the products listed on their sites
• To make the release of goods into the EU dependent on complete trader information (details of the importer and EU economic operator)
• To earmark the revenue from the “handling fee” for strengthening customs authorities
• The introduction of EU-wide minimum penalties for customs rules violations in order to prevent loopholes and “a race to the bottom” between Member State