Ebay and Amazon should be liable for any faulty or dangerous goods sold through their marketplaces the EU’s largest consumer group has demanded.
The European Consumer Organisation, or Beuc, said that online marketplaces current system of self-regulation didn’t go far enough, and strict regulation must be enforced.
“It cannot continue to be the case that it’s very easy for a platform to make money from illegal online sales, but that it’s very difficult to put an end to them,” Beuc’s senior digital policy advisor Maryant Fernández said.
READ MORE: 66% of products bought on Amazon, Ebay, Wish and AliExpress fail safety tests
“Voluntary action is not enough, or has just become a way to delay regulatory obligations
“E-commerce shops have become more relevant than ever during the pandemic and we need to hold them accountable”.
It comes as the EU and its competition commissioner Margarethe Vestager prepare to overhaul legislation surrounding internet retail giants with a new Digital Services Act.
Vestager said on Monday: “The crisis has shown that it’s more urgent than ever to get the Digital Services Act because you really need to be able to trust what you do online as well as what you do offline.”
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