[Exclusive] Government to Launch Safety Investigation on Food Products of Ali and Temu

Intensive Inspection of Agricultural and Marine Products on Online Platforms in August
Monitoring and Crackdown on Origin Labeling and Sales Status
Jointly Conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries

The government has decided to launch a safety investigation into agricultural and marine products sold on the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress. This decision comes from the assessment that safety risks have increased due to low-quality or origin-uncertified food products, as the number of domestic users utilizing Chinese platforms like Ali has surged.

According to related ministries on the 31st, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will conduct a focused investigation next month on companies selling agricultural and marine products to domestic consumers through online platforms such as Ali. A senior government official stated, “We plan to closely monitor Ali and Temu.”

The government will first check whether sellers comply with origin labeling obligations. Starting from the 12th of next month, additional personnel will be deployed to begin monitoring, and from the 19th, full-scale crackdowns will commence. The inspection will involve verifying whether sellers clearly indicate the origin of agricultural products as domestic or foreign, while also reviewing sales status. Sellers who fail to clearly state the origin will face fines of up to 10 million KRW.

The government recognizes the need to ensure the safety of food products sold on major e-commerce platforms like Ali, as usage frequency has recently increased. Since violations of origin labeling spike during holidays when agricultural and marine product purchases rise, a focused inspection will be conducted ahead of the Chuseok holiday in September. A government official explained, “Since Ali and Temu are not domestic companies, it is difficult to check all statuses, but we will intensively monitor domestic companies that have Korean addresses.”

Ali, a Chinese e-commerce platform, has been operating the ‘K-Venue’ service since last year, selling fresh food products to domestic consumers. It operates as an open market where Ali’s registered sellers directly sell and deliver fresh food. Ali is actively expanding its domestic business by lowering entry barriers, such as not charging sellers commissions. Another Chinese platform, Temu, is also aggressively expanding its domestic service scale.

The government plans to conduct a comprehensive status check on Temu, which has not yet established a dedicated domestic service like Ali. A government official said, “We understand that Temu does not yet offer a service like K-Venue,” and added, “We will review the overall distribution status of agricultural and marine products.”

Ali and Temu Monthly Active Users (MAU) at 53% of Coupang

The number of domestic users on these platforms is rapidly increasing. According to WiseApp, Retail, and Goods, which provide app and retail analysis services, Ali’s monthly active users (MAU) reached 8,368,280 last month. It ranks second in the domestic e-commerce platform rankings, following Coupang (31,291,624 users). Temu recorded 8,233,847 users, ranking third. Combined, Ali and Temu’s MAU amounts to about 53% of Coupang’s MAU.

Domestic online platforms are also included in the inspection targets. This is because focusing solely on Chinese e-commerce platforms could raise fairness concerns. A government official said, “We continuously check origin verification obligations on domestic platforms as well,” adding, “As part of that effort, Chinese platforms will also be investigated.” However, there is speculation inside and outside the government that this safety investigation will lead to a broader review of low-quality fresh food products sold on Chinese platforms.

The government plans to continue overall safety investigations, including origin labeling, on online platforms even after this focused inspection period. Since the spread of COVID-19, online sales transactions have surged, and violations of origin labeling have increased accordingly. According to the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, the proportion of origin violations in agricultural products related to telecommunication sales (online) jumped sharply from 6.9% in 2019 to 19.9% in 2020, then continued to rise in double digits, reaching 25.0% last year.

Professor Eunhee Lee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, “Origin labeling is important not only for food safety but also for consumer choice,” adding, “Sellers have the obligation to provide accurate information so that consumers can understand the product well and make informed purchasing decisions.”