The WEEE Forum has joined a coalition of seventy environmental and consumer protection outfits, manufacturing industry as well as retail and wholesale organisations, calling on policymakers to urgently address persistent regulatory loopholes in relation to trade via online marketplaces.

With the rapid growth of e-commerce, these platforms have become critical enablers of e-commerce from third countries, particularly by linking consumers with third-party sellers from outside the European Union. In many cases, this results in sellers bypassing the internal market system that requires an operator in the EU who ensures that all products and packaging placed on the EU market are safe and compliant with legislation.

As Europe moves into the Christmas and holiday shopping period, alongside major sales events such as Black Friday, the risk of a massive influx of non-compliant products flooding the EU market becomes even greater.

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