95% of toys sold on the Chinese platform Temu are dangerous for children’s health, warns the French Federation of Toy Industries

“95% of toyss”tested on the Temu platform”do not comply with European safety regulations“, warns the French Federation of Toy and Childcare Industries (FJP) in a report published Tuesday. Temu is a Chinese e-commerce application that allows consumers to buy products at unbeatable prices.

At the end of 2023, the Toy Industries of Europe purchased 19 toys on the Temu platform. She then addressed them to “an independent and accredited European testing laboratory for their assessment according to toy safety standards“. And it turns out that out of these 19 toys, “none complied with European Union regulations and 18 posed a real risk to children’s safety“.”These toys can cause cuts, airway blockages, choking, strangulation, punctures and chemical hazards“, affirms the European federation.

Temu has made these toys “unavailable”

The vice-president of the FJP Julie Chaboud discusses this Thursday at the microphone of France Inter the example of a toy made of “ring with little ribbons in rainbow colors“. She explains that “sharp metal parts protrude“of the toy and can therefore”potentially cutting off the child“.”Some parts may also come loose and therefore be swallowed by the child.“, she adds. Julie Chaboud believes that “these products are not controlled because they are sent directly by the Chinese manufacturer to French consumers“. This therefore prevents any verification of “conformity of these products“, according to her.

Following these results, the European Federation requested the application. Temu then replied that he had “took steps to make these toys unavailable” on its platform. If Toy Industries of Europe welcomes this “reactivity“, the federation considers that these “corrective actions are not enough“. “For every dangerous toy identified on the platform, there are countless others that go undetected and end up in the hands of consumers across the EU“, she criticizes in a press release.

Faced with this observation, the European and French toy federations are therefore calling “authorities to crack down on unscrupulous operators based outside the European Union who flout the rules and sell dangerous toys“. The French Federation of Toy and Childcare Industries denounces a “law void“and calls for European legislation”suitable both to protect children, but also to allow serious and reputable toy companies to operate in a fair competitive environment“.