EU must step up its efforts to curb the high number of unsafe products entering Europe

High numbers of dangerous products have reached EU consumers in 2025 according to new data published today. The 4,671 notifications to the EU's alert system for dangerous non-food products (Safety Gate) highlight the pressing need to overhaul the bloc's market surveillance rules to adjust to the challenges raised by e-commerce.  

Agustín Reyna, Director General of BEUC, commented:

“Toys that children can choke on, cosmetics causing rashes, or chargers catching fire keep entering Europe, often through Chinese online marketplaces, leaving no responsible person in the supply chain in practice. To really protect consumers, marketplaces must be held accountable and ultimately become liable if no one else ensures consumer safety, and the EU should take fast-tracked action on risks affecting consumers across the Union.” 

Background:  

• Online marketplaces  

Our members repeatedly highlighted that dangerous products enter the EU through online marketplaces. Their responsibilities when placing products on the EU market are currently unclear. In theory there should be an “EU authorised representative” for accountability, but in practice the concept does not work making it difficult to identify who is responsible and make them respect rules.  

• The upcoming EU product Act  

The EU Commission is set to present its upcoming European Product Act in September. One of the options under discussion is creating an EU Market Surveillance Authority. Giving such an authority centralised enforcement powers for cases of common EU interest, would preserve the Single Market and allow quicker and more coordinated responses.  

• On Safety Gate  

Notifications about products which pose a serious risk to consumers’ health and safety only represent the tip of the iceberg since authorities are unable to control all products entering the EU market, and it is impossible to know the specific number of product units linked to a notification.

In 2025, cosmetics, toys and electrical appliances were the three most reported product categories representing over 63% of notifications, confirming trends from past years. The number of notifications has more than doubled since 2022. The statistics do not allow conclusions about whether the level of safety declines or if on the contrary, the higher number of notifications means Member States stepped up their control intensity or that control systems become more efficient. However, the high number of dangerous products circulating in the Single Market shows the urgency of blocking dangerous products at the outside borders of the EU before they reach EU consumers.

While consumers do not always know how to report safety issues caused by products, they have now the possibility to directly alert EU authorities through the Consumer Safety Gateway. Similarly, the General Product Safety Regulation strengthens the possibility for consumer groups and the authorities to collaborate on product safety issues which is useful as consumer groups regularly conduct their own checks and observe noncompliance.