Temu has become one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers in a little over two years of trading.

It made a rapid ascent in the Australian market after being launched in 2022, cutting through with an ultra-cheap online shopping model and a vast array of products.

Research from Roy Morgan shows in the 12 months to June alone, 3.8 million Australians shopped at least once with the retailer, at a monthly customer growth rate of 32 per cent.

Most were repeat or “high-frequency” buyers making four or more purchases in the year, driven to the retailer amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis, its aggressive marketing, offerings like free delivery, and a gamified shopping experience.

But Temu’s meteoric rise has also led to increased global scrutiny of its safety standards, prompting calls for stronger consumer protections.

Looking at Australian laws, risk assessment of products coming in from overseas and the legal consequences for companies breaching regulations are minimal.

CHOICE investigation

An investigation into Temu that was released on Tuesday by consumer advocacy group CHOICE found a number of its products were dangerous for use.

CHOICE purchased and tested 15 toys at random from Temu, with most carrying deadly coin and button battery hazards.

Every product failed safety testing against Australian regulations.

These included camera projectors, children’s watches, spinning tops, LED tea lights, and light-up tutus.

The key safety failures were easily detachable batteries, loose screws, and inadequate labelling.

The products in question have since been removed from sale but CHOICE said the majority remained available until it notified the retailer.

“It’s a worrying set of results, given Temu’s surging popularity,” the organisation’s CEO Ashley de Silva said.

Similar findings of button battery hazards in online products have been made by CHOICE in the past.

In May, British consumer group Which? also found hazards in Temu heaters. The samples it tested appeared likely to start a fire and were unfit for legal sale in the UK.

The same month, an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches revealed Temu falsely advertised some tools as being approved by safety certification organisations by superimposing the name of the merchant onto documents of genuine certificate holders.

Temu’s quality control shaped by laws of countries it supplies

Temu is a third-party marketplace that does not manufacture or supply what it sells and only acts as a conduit between transacting parties, facilitating the delivery of products directly from factories and warehouses — mostly in China — to buyers.

That means it lacks oversight of whether its goods are safety-certified prior to sale, and relies on sellers signing “agreements affirming their commitment to product safety and adherence to regulations relevant to their intended markets” during their onboarding.

“Temu supports this process by providing guidance and resources on compliance requirements for various markets,” a spokesperson for the company told the ABC.

“Physical inspection and enforcement form another critical component of Temu’s quality control measures. Random spot checks are conducted to verify that the physical products match their descriptions and adhere to relevant standards.”

But while Temu says its quality control aligns with the requirements of the respective markets it operates in, how effective are regulations in its countries of import?

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says Australian Consumer Law currently “does not contain a direct prohibition on the supply of unsafe products”.

No minimum safety requirements for products sold in Australia

“Strengthening product safety online including through compliance monitoring, encouraging best practices by online platforms, and raising awareness to reduce safety risks from goods sold online is a current priority for the ACCC,” a spokesperson for the consumer regulator told the ABC.

The ACCC sets out 51 mandatory safety and information standards and 19 product safety bans designed to regulate the supply of certain “high-risk” consumer goods and prevent or reduce the risk of injury.

The regulator’s overall responsibilities involve laying out guidelines on how state and Commonwealth bodies can address product safety risks, and a general consumer guarantee that goods sold be of “acceptable quality”.

“Goods are considered of acceptable quality if they are, among other things, safe,” the spokesperson added.

There are no provisions — neither by the ACCC nor another government body — to check shipments arriving onshore meet this “acceptable quality” requirement.

The ACCC currently has a voluntary Australian Product Safety Pledge in place as part of its efforts to mitigate risks associated with online shopping.

The pledge involves companies committing to implementing 12 product safety-related actions, and reporting on their annual performance.

Temu has not signed or indicated its intention to sign the pledge. The current signatories include AliExpress, Amazon Australia, Catch.com.au, eBay Australia, and MyDeal.com.au.

Toxic goods

Physical hazards aside, Temu products have also been found to contain illegal quantities of hazardous chemicals that are harmful to human health.

This was brought to attention this year after South Korea began carrying out checks on items sold by online fast-fashion brands to counter what it said was a “de facto blind spot” created by overseas direct purchases.

Since April, officials in Seoul have conducted tests in collaboration with professional institutions every week, under which personal use Temu goods recurrently show up in breach of South Korea’s chemical safety standards.

Products of concern have included clothes and accessories like hats and sandals, which were found to contain lead in the insoles at levels more than 11 times the permissible limit in one August inspection.

The metal can be absorbed directly through the skin and exposure even in small amounts is capable of impairing multiple organs according to the World Health Organization. Lead poisoning was attributed to more than 1.5 million deaths in 2021 by the WHO.

Toxicology tests commissioned by the UK program Dispatches also found many of Temu’s children’s products contained heavy metals — lead, cadmium, and antimony — in levels capable of causing serious mental and physiological disorders.

The ABC asked the ACCC whether such chemical safety concerns had ever come to its attention in relation to Temu products, or if it had engaged in any direct or independent lab tests, to which it said it “does not comment on individual reports we may receive from consumers or suppliers, or on the steps we may take to assess or investigate such reports”.

Shifting the burden of proof from consumers

The Australian Border Force has just one toxic material-specific prohibitions on the importation of personal goods, which is cosmetics containing more than 250mg/kilogram of lead, though it is unclear how or if it regulates this during the customs screening process.

“The ABF works closely with other government agencies, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, to monitor and regulate the importation of goods into Australia,” it told the ABC.

From an ACCC perspective, there is safety guidance on what the acceptable concentration limits of particular chemicals in goods like clothes, shoes, and other textiles are.

This guidance, however, has not been updated since it was published in 2014 as a “point-in-time reference”, the ACCC spokesperson confirmed.

“Chemical management in Australia is a shared responsibility between the Commonwealth and states and territories,” they said.

Nationally, the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) regulates industrial chemicals, but research from the University of Technology Sydney’s sustainability institute shows chemical management in the consumer products sector needs to be more proactive with toxicology evaluation.

“Traditionally, chemical regulation around the world has placed the burden of proof of harm on consumers and scientists. Within this regulatory framework, a chemical is considered safe until it is proven otherwise,” the 2020 report said.

It noted there were three different regulatory bodies in Australia — AICS, HCIS, and NPI — working in an advisory capacity, but no uniform legal framework federally.

“In addition to insufficiently tested chemicals that enter the global market each year, many chemicals that were in use prior to legislation being enacted were ‘grandfathered’ and have not undergone any testing.

“In Australia 40,000 chemicals were ‘grandfathered’ into the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances.”

‘Our whole product safety system needs a reboot’

Director of Campaigns at CHOICE, Rosie Thomas, said legislation stronger than a voluntary safety pledge was needed to hold online businesses accountable.

“While some online marketplaces have signed up to a voluntary pledge that includes some commitments about unsafe products, it is concerning that new and extremely popular platforms like Temu … have not made these commitments. At a minimum, we want to see them make these commitments immediately.

“We also shouldn’t be leaving something as important as product safety to voluntary commitments from businesses. Our whole product safety system needs a reboot so we are not relying on businesses acting after something has gone wrong.

“We need a new law — a general safety provision — to stop businesses including online marketplaces from selling unsafe products in the first place.”

According to the 2024 Marketplace Consumer Trends Report, Temu ranks as the lowest e-commerce platforms in its perceived quality of products, with just 7 per cent of shoppers citing trust in the retailer.