The new liability for e-retailers will be similar to the one facing brick and mortar retailers for the safety of the products they sell. The UK Government intends to introduce these powers as part of an amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, which is currently progressing in the House of Commons. This is also part of a wider effort from the UK Government to overhaul and modernise the UK's product safety regime, to adapt it to the digital age/emerging technologies and ensure consumers are subject to the same protections when shopping online. In a product test programme carried out by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS, the national regulator for consumer products) from 2021 to 2022, 81% of the more than 2,200 products sold via online marketplaces that were tested failed to meet safety standards, ranging from toys, electrical goods and cosmetics.
The move comes amid growing concerns that the current UK product safety regime is outdated and no longer fit for purpose, with certain aspects of the regime deriving from EU legislation dating back to the 1980's. One of the consequences of this is a loophole where e-retailers do not currently share the same responsibilities as high street retailers for the products they list and sell.
Consumer group Which? has identified that several dangerous or unsafe products have been sold via online marketplaces, ranging from electric heaters and kitchen blenders to e-scooter batteries.
