EU Fines AliExpress €550 Million Over Unsafe and Counterfeit Goods
The European Commission fined AliExpress €550 million on July 20 for breaching the European Union’s Digital Services Act, saying the marketplace failed to adequately assess and reduce risks linked to illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products.
The decision is a final non-compliance action, not a blanket finding that every product listed on AliExpress is unsafe or illegal. It concerns the platform’s systems and conduct through at least June 2025. For consumers in the European Union, the immediate effect is regulatory pressure on AliExpress to strengthen product screening, seller enforcement and counterfeit controls.
What the EU found
In a detailed decision summary, the Commission said AliExpress did not properly evaluate whether it had enough staff to review potentially illegal products relative to the platform’s workload. Regulators also said the company overestimated the effectiveness of its detection and removal systems.
Commission testing found that many illegal products were recommended or advertised before they were effectively removed, while a high volume of illegal listings continued to circulate despite moderation efforts.
The Commission said unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and counterfeit products sometimes remained online for multiple weeks after detection. It also criticized AliExpress’s enforcement against repeat-offending sellers, saying stores selling illegal products could remain active despite being penalized.
Product-compliance checks could also be circumvented through miscategorization, according to the Commission. Sellers could place non-compliant products in categories with more flexible requirements, while insufficient staffing made it harder to identify those listings before publication.
The Commission separately found that AliExpress’s mandatory brand-authorization system, intended to help prevent counterfeit sales, was ineffective and understaffed. The concerns involved marketplace systems and controls, not a determination that all sellers or products on the platform violated EU law.
What shoppers may notice
EU users could see more listings removed, additional seller checks and greater scrutiny of product descriptions, categories and brand claims. Some goods may become harder to find or unavailable if AliExpress changes its screening and enforcement systems.
The exact consumer-facing changes are not yet known. The fine itself does not operate as a product recall, and shoppers should continue to assess safety-sensitive purchases carefully, particularly toys, cosmetics, electronics and goods carrying branded labels.
The action also shows how EU regulators are applying platform-level accountability rules to cross-border online marketplaces. Under the Digital Services Act, very large online platforms must assess and mitigate systemic risks created by their services, including risks associated with illegal goods and harmful commercial activity.
AliExpress disputes the penalty
AliExpress said it had invested in safety and compliance measures and disputed the penalty as disproportionate, according to The Associated Press. The company said it was reviewing its options. Those statements represent AliExpress’s position and do not change the Commission’s final decision.
The action followed preliminary findings issued in June 2025 and earlier commitments by AliExpress. The final decision addresses the platform’s obligations to assess and mitigate systemic risks involving illegal products during the period examined by regulators.
What happens next
AliExpress must submit a corrective action plan to the Commission by October 20, 2026. The plan must describe measures to remedy the breach of its risk-assessment and mitigation obligations.
After receiving the plan, the European Board for Digital Services will have one month to issue an opinion. The Commission will then have a further month to adopt its implementation decision and set a reasonable period for carrying out the measures.
Failure to comply with the non-compliance decision may lead to periodic penalty payments. Those later decisions will determine whether the enforcement action produces visible changes in listings, seller access and product-verification systems.
For now, October 20 is the next firm date to watch. The €550 million penalty has been imposed, but the practical remedy for EU shoppers remains a work in progress.
Sources
- European Commission decision
- European Commission detailed decision summary
- Associated Press report
- Euronews report
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