Do not buy: French authorities warn of 52 dangerous items sold online

Authorities in France have revealed 52 products that have been removed from online sale in April, due to the dangers the items present to consumers.

Consumer watchdog la DGCCRF and European Union consumer protection authorities removed items that were at risk of causing a fire and burns, injury, or chemical poisoning. These include:

• Children’s toys, including a 'Tamagotchi', and soft toys

• Electrical items such as hairdryers, hair straighteners, (coffee) grinders, and plug adaptors

• Home goods, such as decor

• Children’s clothes and dressing up costumes

• Personal items such as novelty jewellery and face masks

The majority were being sold by websites that ship products from outside of the EU (mainly from China), including:

• Amazon

• eBay

• Aliexpress

• Temu

• Shein

The full list of items – from the April recall and all others – can be seen on the French Economy Ministry website here (arranged by category, such as electronic goods, jewellery, and children’s toys), and on Safety Gate, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products.

Under the alert, all the platforms should contact customers who have already bought the products, to let them know of the recall. They must also remove the products from sale, along with others from similar batches or similar items, as they may also be dangerous.

Consumer alert

Despite this, some items (or similar) may still remain for sale, and the DGCCRF is advising consumers to be vigilant, and to report any dangerous consumer products to them.

The authority is warning anyone with such items, or similar, to not use them and to immediately dispose of them safely immediately.

The DGCCRF and the EU also warned consumers about buying items from outside of the EU via these online platforms in general. Often, items that are removed from sale in a monthly recall are later placed back on sale online.

Many items do not respect EU safety regulations, the authority said, and warned that items at very low prices are often “too good to be true”, are poorly made, or counterfeit.

The April recall comes as the French government presented a plan to regulate e-commerce more tightly. It provides for increased European cooperation, more inspections, and product testing by the DGCCRF and Customs, plus improved consumer information on products that have been identified as dangerous.

Some items identified as particularly dangerous, such as children’s beds that carry a suffocation risk, are not permitted to enter the country, and are stopped at the border by Customs.