Product security
EU report: Most of the illegal products from China
Products on the EU market must meet certain standards. Not all imported articles from abroad do this. Now the EU is presenting a report.
Most of the illegal products, which are intercepted by EU countries during customs controls, come from China, according to a report by the European Commission. The number of rejected articles from the country rose sharply in 2024, compared to 2022 by almost 180 percent to 48,139, it said. The country with the second most rejections are the USA (3,247), followed by Great Britain (2,120). However, there is a clear distance between them and China.
Rejections are primarily affected, but also articles in the field of household and living as well as electronics and technology are affected, the report.
The customs authorities in the member states check whether imported products correspond to EU regulations in relation to security or environmental standards. Suspicious products are initially stopped to check them. An EU official explained more than 80 percent of the products that are controlled due to a possible violation of EU rules.
According to the report, the authorities took almost 400,000 times last year and carried out document controls, physical controls or laboratory tests. 36 percent of the products were then released for the EU market. After further examination, 16 percent – almost 65,000 articles – were finally rejected.
Member states should check even more
The EU states would have to reinforce their controls, the report stated. Only 0.0082 percent of all imported products were checked by customs authorities, it said – 82 articles per million that were approved for free traffic. In addition, rejection practice in the member states is very different.
dpa
Source: Stern
