Is it safe to do your shopping from the other side of the world

There’s not much time before the Christmas shopping season starts, a time where you can enjoy very attractive offers on of all kinds of gifts, to pamper our family and friends. In the technologyera that we live in, we have the opportunity to buy products from anywhere in the world and receive them at our door with just a couple of clicks. But how do you really know what you are buying?Are the products you buy fromthe other side of the world regulated and controlled and more importantly, safe?

There are many questions that arise and consumers are often drawn inby offers that appear too good to be true. It may turn out that thetoy you buy your child, or the appliance that you think is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss, comes from a country where there are no quality controls in place to ensure that you are not exposed to harmful chemicals or in the case of electronics, the risk of explosion or fires.

The Danish Consumer Council, concerned about this situation conducted a study of some of the toys most requested by children, such as slime and squishy toys. Some of the results were alarming. In many cases, these products came from China and showed levels of boron higher than those acceptable to the European regulatory agencies in Austria, Germany and France.

Similarly, the same agency studied 29 inexpensive toys that were available online through Wish, eBay or Amazon and found that 9 of them contained illegal and potentially harmful phthalates. In some cases, the permissible levels were exceeded by a factor of more than 200. These additives are added to plastics to increase their flexibility, but the consequences of their use can be very serious. Children often put toys and items they handle in their mouths and this increases their exposure to all kinds of undesirable chemicals.

These findings not only impact European consumers but also affect virtually any consumer globallyasthese products are available through online stores and can be purchased no matter where you are worldwide.

But products purchased online go far beyond just toys, they cover a wide rangeof items such as cosmetics, perfumes, footwear, groceries and electronics. All of them may contain harmful substances in concentrations greater than those accepted by regulatory agencies such as the FDA.

Taking a look at the list of cosmetics studied by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization established in the United States of America and dedicated to research to protect human and environmental health, we find ingredients in perfumes, creams, lotions and other cosmetics that turn out to be endocrine disruptors, allergens or skin irritants.

The online market is a complex target.Sometimes supplierssell products themselves and at other times they allow third party traders to sell their products through their own websites. Many of these merchants are not sufficiently controlled. Stores must assume greater responsibility and regulators must intervene to avoid a scenario without controls and responsibilities.

Shopping around the world

Withthe online markets and stores available today, we have the whole world just a few clicks away. One of the most popular countries to buy from is, of course, China. However, more than half of the unsafe products detected in Europe and America in 2018 came from there.

In Europe, manufacturers of electronics, toys and other product categories are required to obtain a CE quality seal, with which they certify that they are safe. However, special caution must be taken with the portal used for the purchase. The non-profit organization Which?, which usually tests almost any type of product on the market in order to offer the best options to consumers, detected through experimental tests that some of the smoke detectors found on a Chinese sales portal were found to be defective and that, of course, puts consumers at serious risk.

However, this is not about telling a scary story, but, in order for online purchases to be made, time should be taken to investigate these products prior to making apurchase.

Advances in Online Commerce Security

Authorities are working to improve the safety of products soldonline. Four major online markets signed aproduct safety commitment with the European Commission in 2018. With it they voluntarily agreed to quickly remove unsafe products from their websites. This is an excellent initiative that can be replicated for the North American market.

Another very interesting initiative already implemented in Europe that should be evaluated by the North American authorities is known as Safety Gate. This online alert portal allows a rapid exchange of information between EU/EEA member states and the European Commission on dangerous non-food products that pose a risk to the health and safety of consumers. On this website, both manufacturers and consumers can report the presence of a product on sale to the competent national authority in charge of receiving and managing alerts for dangerous non-food consumer products.

What can we do as consumers?

It is impossible to ask online shoppers to check whether a product is safe as there are many limitations on the information available. They have other jobs, lives to lead and cannot be safety experts in their free time. Online stores are responsible for keeping people safe by complying with the security and e-commerce standards of the consumer’s country of residence.

The authorities have the enormous task of jointly planning concrete actions, such as joint market controls, or coordinating product recalls around the world so that unsafe products are recalled everywhere and at the same time. We need close cooperation between product safety and customs authorities within and between countries.

WTO discussions in Geneva can get things moving. It is good that government e-commerce experts around the world are discussing the issue, but they need to partner with government departments responsible for consumer safety, and market authorities so that dangerous products are not sold online to consumers.

Governments wishing to update global e-commerce regulations must address product safety in parallel. Facilitating e-commerce should not put consumers at risk.

Final Recommendations

While the competent authorities are working to address the problem ofthe lack of regulations in online commerce, we can take certain measures in our homes to reduce exposure to harmful substances present in many articles purchased through e-commerce portals:

• Choose, whenever possible, reputable stores that offer quality products made in North America or Europe and have safety certifications.
• If you are looking for toys or articles for children, it is advisable to check that they indicate that “does not contain phthalates” or “does not contain bisphenol A (BPA)”. Avoid the use of plastics that do not have identification on the package.
• Support green and sustainable initiatives that offer products made from natural wood, paper, metal, lead- and toxic-free dyes and paints, organic cotton, etc. You can get excellent gift options for children at Green Toys and Under The Nile.
• Avoid toys and plastic products. Some plastic products such as squeeze toys, rattles, teething rings, pacifiers, baby cups and bottles may contain phthalates.
• When buying clothing, you can opt for eco-friendly and fair trade options that will protect your health and the environment.
• In the case of cosmetics and personal hygiene products, it is advisable to investigate brands that offer safe alternatives free of toxic chemicals, fragrances and allergens. An excellent resource for researching the best options for safe products is the list offered by the EWG group on its official website.