BRUSSELS ASKS ALIEXPRESS FOR INFORMATION ON HOW IT PREVENTS THE SALE OF ILLEGAL PRODUCTS, INCLUDING COUNTERFEIT DRUGS

The European Commission on Monday sent the online sales platform a formal request for the company to provide information about the measures it takes to comply with obligations related to online consumer protection, in particular with regard to the sale of illegal products such as counterfeit medicines.

Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Commission has required AliExpress to explain how it complies with obligations related to risk assessments and mitigation measures to protect consumers by preventing the sale of illegal products.

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said the Digital Services Act “is also there to ensure the elimination of illegal or unsafe products sold in the EU through e-commerce platforms, including the growing number of fake and potentially deadly medicines and pharmaceuticals being sold online.”

The company will have until November 27 to provide the Commission with the requested information. Brussels published in April a list of 17 companies, including Aliexpress, that exceeded 45 million monthly users in the EU and were designated as Very Large Online Platforms. After their designation, companies were required to comply with the full set of new obligations under the DSA. These aim to empower and protect online users, including minors, by requiring designated services to assess and mitigate their systemic risks and provide robust content moderation tools.

As reported by the Commission, according to Article 74 (2) of the DSA, the Community executive may impose fines for incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response to a request for information. Failure by AliExpress to respond within the deadline may result in the imposition of coercive fines.

This article was originally published in Aquí Europa .