On Tuesday, the Ecosocial Forum invited people to a panel discussion in Vienna on consumer protection on the internet when buying cheap products, especially outside the EU. In addition to the dangers posed by medicines or food supplements containing banned ingredients, attention was also paid to the need for better market surveillance of online trading.
Ultimately, there is also a need to “increase awareness of health risks.” This was said by the Director of the Federal Office for Consumer Health (BAVG) and AGES Director Anton Reinl. Because “online purchases are booming, by 2023 two-thirds of Austrians will buy everyday goods online and this trend is especially increasing when it comes to children’s toys,” but official controls mainly take place in office supplies retailing.
The associated dangers can range from children’s toys containing toxic plasticizers, to Christmas lights that catch fire when used, to nutritional supplements with unauthorized ingredients. Ulrich Herzog, Head of the Department of Consumer Policy and Consumer Health at the Ministry of Health, called the biggest challenge “the rapidly increasing order volume of individual products, which can only be checked with great difficulty and intercepted in case of violations, because as well as the difficult traceability to the manufacturer.” Products identified as dangerous or non-compliant are removed from the offering by the provider, but “reappear on the online marketplace under a different name or with a new design,” Herzog says.
The complaint rate for toys is above 80 percent
In any case, the major American and Chinese online platforms also fall under the BAVG control regime. By 2024, the complaint rate for toys due to safety defects or labeling errors was more than 80 percent. Some banned or unauthorized ingredients such as lithium or harmful mercury were found in dietary supplements. “Products are purchased online that are not available anywhere in the EU and that are not found during physical checks. There is also a need to raise awareness of the health risks.”
AGES toy expert Daniela Schachner also pointed out the big differences between stationary and online stores and urged caution when it comes to cheap and cheapest offers. Serious safety defects include small parts that can become loose and swallowed in toys for children under 36 months or in magnetic toys and excessive kinetic energy in projectile toys.
Expansion of Internet control and official cooperation
National and international networks were seen as the greatest lever for efficiently expanding control over online commerce. Section head Herzog saw important “legal steps in the Digital Services Act” and the new EU Product Safety Regulation, “which will require online marketplaces to cooperate more closely with market surveillance authorities in the future.”
Technically, AGES is already testing the use of artificial intelligence (AI tools) for risk-based controls and efficient market surveillance in online food retailing as part of the FFG-funded research project “eMarketshield” “to leverage synergies in Austria. The aim of the BAVG is “to adapt the means of controls to purchasing behavior and to strengthen the cooperation of all market surveillance authorities, including customs,” Reinl said.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
