Ali·Temu Cut Off Product Distribution Channels for China E-commerce

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An autonomous agreement has been established to prevent the distribution of hazardous products on platforms such as Ali and Temu. As Chinese e-commerce companies rapidly penetrate the domestic market with vast financial resources and aggressive pricing strategies, side effects such as an increase in the sale of hazardous products have emerged, prompting the government to take measures.

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 13th that it has signed a 'Voluntary Product Safety Agreement' with Chinese platform operators including Ali and Temu. The signing ceremony held at the Korea Consumer Federation was attended by Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, Ray Zhang, CEO of Ali Korea, and Queen Sun, CEO of Whale Co Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Temu.

Chairman Han stated, "Through this voluntary agreement, Ali and Temu will promptly provide information on recalls and corrective actions for hazardous products to their sellers and consumers, and strengthen monitoring of products distributed through their platforms to block the circulation of hazardous products."

He added, "Together with the previously signed voluntary agreements with seven domestic open market operators and four secondhand trading platforms, this is expected to strongly protect consumer safety across the entire online distribution and transaction sector."

First, Ali and Temu will autonomously monitor and block the distribution and sale of hazardous products. The government will provide information on hazardous products, including overseas recall information and safety inspection results, through the Consumer Comprehensive Support System 'Consumer24' operated by the Fair Trade Commission, and Ali and Temu will notify their sellers and consumers of the received hazardous product information.

There has been an issue where hazardous products, once blocked, could easily be redistributed due to the nature of online platforms, but to prevent this, the government has also decided to strengthen its own monitoring.

However, there are skeptical views regarding the effectiveness of this agreement. The main contents of the agreement contain many general and abstract phrases such as 'prevent,' 'endeavor,' and 'actively cooperate,' making it difficult to predict how it will be applied in practice.

In response, Chairman Han said, "We will establish various institutional measures, including the currently proposed 'Basic Consumer Safety Act,' to ensure that no blind spots in consumer safety occur."

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