AliExpress, a marketplace owned by Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, has signed four new commitments on online consumer rights In the context of EU “consumer protection obligation”.a voluntary commitment by online platforms to ensure a safe and transparent environment for online consumers.
The signing took place in the third Annual Digital Consumer Event 2023where the European Commission brought together representatives from the European Parliament, business and consumer associations and academia to reflect on and discuss the key digital issues currently facing consumers.
“By signing this commitment today, we demonstrate our continued determination to protect customers who shop on AliExpress and reiterate our commitment to work with the European Commission as well as market surveillance authorities and consumer associations to improve the safety of products and online consumers.” , explained Eric Pelletier, Vice President and Head of International Government Relations at Alibaba Group.
“We believe voluntary commitments are important to ensure consumers are at the heart of everything we do and to promote an overall culture of compliance and collaboration across the industry. “We work hard to create a safe online shopping environment for all of our customers, and today marks an important step forward for all digital marketplaces.”, Pelletier concluded.
The “Consumer Protection Commitment” consists of two parts: the first part is the “Product Safety Commitment+” – agreed in March – and the second part is the recently agreed “Digital Consumer Rights Commitments”.
With this important initiative, which will come into force in July 2024, AliExpress will take greater responsibility in protecting the safety of consumers who shop online go beyond what is already established Digital Services Act (DSA) and the upcoming General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). The new Digital Consumer Rights Commitments address some of the most important aspects of consumer rights, including:
- Measures to make it easier for EU consumers to exercise certain rightsincluding providing consumers with a simple, transparent and easily accessible online functionality to exercise their right of withdrawal and communicate with human interactions.
- Measures to make consumer reviews more transparent and trustworthywith clear review policies for sellers, including prohibiting fake reviews, editing consumer reviews, or encouraging consumers to post positive reviews.
- Measures to promote transparent influencer marketingwhich ensures the disclosure of commercial contracts clearly and unambiguously in real time.
- Measures to inform and train sellers about EU legislation in the spirit of consumer protection through educational activities for sellers operating on digital marketplaces.
AliExpress was one of the four founding signatories of the original “Product Safety Pledge” signed in 2018 under the leadership of the European Commission, and subsequently signed the improved and updated “Product Safety Pledge+” in March 2023. The Consumer Protection Pledge was signed by 11 people online platforms at the Digital Consumer Event 2023 at the European Parliament in Brussels. This event was moderated by Isabelle Perignon, Director of Consumer Affairs at the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commissionin the presence of Didier Reynder, Commissioner of Justice.