European Commission accepts Temu plan on illegal-product risks and calls for implementation within four months

Temu must redo its risk assessment, verify the limits of moderation, and analyze how algorithms can amplify illegal offers. The plan accepted by the Commission will be subject to an independent audit, following the fine of 200 million euros imposed in May.

On October 26, 2026, the European Commission accepted the plan requiring Temu to correct its assessment of the risks related to illegal products offered on the platform. The company has four months to implement the five measures, after being fined 200 million euros in May for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). Acceptance of the plan opens the stage of verifying its implementation and does not certify the safety of the products sold.

In brief

The European Commission accepted Temu’s plan to remedy the violation of its risk-assessment obligations. The platform has four months to implement it.

The five measures address risks specific to Temu, the effectiveness of interventions, the limits of moderation, recommendation algorithms, and the manipulation of functionalities by sellers or other users.

The European Board for Digital Services had deemed the proposals only partially adequate. The Commission says it clarified the requirements and will focus particularly on the insufficiently explained points.

The interim assessment must be carried out within four months and must examine a six-month period ending on November 30, 2026. The independent audit report will be submitted no later than four months after the measures are implemented.

The plan follows the fine of 200 million euros imposed on May 28, 2026. Its acceptance does not cancel the sanction and does not demonstrate that the illegal offers have already been eliminated.

The new stage comes after the Commission found that the assessment carried out by Temu in 2024 underestimated the risk of European users encountering illegal products. According to the institution, the analysis was based on general information about e-commerce, without sufficient evidence concerning the operation of its own platform. It also failed to properly examine the role of recommendations and the promotion of products by affiliated influencers.

The problem had concrete consequences for shoppers. In its May 28 communication, the Commission indicated that a very high proportion of the chargers selected in a mystery-shopping exercise had failed basic safety checks. Many of the baby toys tested presented medium or high risks, related to chemicals exceeding legal limits or detachable parts that could cause choking. These findings concern the products tested and cannot be converted into a percentage of Temu’s entire offering.

The remediation plan, submitted by the company in August, must address precisely these shortcomings in the assessment. Temu has undertaken to use reliable and up-to-date information about its own service, so that the analysis captures the risks generated by the way the platform is designed, operates, and used. The obligation concerns the mechanisms through which illegal offers can reach consumers on a large scale.

The company must then use credible indicators to assess whether its measures effectively limit the spread of illegal content. This component links the platform’s interventions to their results, so that the existence of controls can be assessed through their effectiveness.

Another part of the plan requires an examination of the limits of proactive moderation. The platform’s rules, automated detection tools, manual verification, feedback mechanisms, and allocated resources are covered. Temu must explain how any shortcomings could affect the products recommended to users.

Assessing the algorithms is a separate requirement. Temu must analyze whether recommendation systems and other algorithmic mechanisms can amplify the spread of illegal offers. At the same time, it must examine the intentional manipulation of the service, including how sellers or other users can exploit the platform’s functionalities to distribute such listings.

The plan was accepted after consultation with the European Board for Digital Services, the body bringing together national coordinators for the enforcement of the DSA. According to the Commission, in its opinion of September 24, the board considered the proposed changes only partially adequate and found that sufficient details were lacking to assess whether the plan remedied the violation. The Commission states that it took these observations into account and clarified the implementation requirements.

The timetable includes two milestones that must not be confused. Temu has four months to implement the plan and carry out an interim risk assessment. The analysis must cover a six-month period ending on November 30, 2026. This date defines the period examined, not the deadline for completing the entire procedure.

Implementation of the measures will be subject to an external and independent audit. Temu must send the report to the Commission no later than four months after implementation. If the auditor issues recommendations, the company must report to the Commission, within one month, how it is implementing them. The European institution says it will pay particular attention to the aspects on which the board requested additional information.

The procedure is based on the special obligations imposed by the DSA on very large online platforms. The regulation requires them to analyze the risks associated with their own services, including those generated by algorithms and moderation. After finding a violation, the supervisory framework allows the Commission to assess the remediation plan, request additional information, and monitor the audit results.

The fine of 200 million euros and the implementation of the plan serve distinct functions in this process. The sanction concerns the violation established in May, while the remediation measures must correct the shortcomings for the future. Acceptance of the plan does not cancel the fine. If the obligations are not fulfilled, the DSA allows additional measures, including periodic penalties, under the conditions established by the regulation.

For buyers in Romania and the rest of the Union, the intended change is a better assessment of the risks that may expose them to illegal products. The results are to be verified through implementation and an audit. The Commission’s decision does not mean that every product on Temu has been checked or that the risk has disappeared.