EU Safety Gate data · 2026 so far
Products from China were behind 57% of EU Safety Gate alerts in 2026
We analysed every alert in the European Commission’s Safety Gate weekly reports for weeks 1–38 of 2026, published between 9 January and 25 September, and compared them with the same weeks of 2025.
57.4%
of alerts involved products from China
1,528 of 2,663 alerts, weeks 1–38 of 2026
+17.3 pts
rise in China’s share
from 40.1% in the same weeks of 2025
94.8%
rated serious risk
1,449 of the 1,528 alerts on products from China
40%
named an online seller
311 of 771 alerts since the field was added in late May
Alerts overall fell 24% on the same weeks of 2025, but alerts on products from China rose 8%. Alerts on products from everywhere else fell 46%.
What gets flagged
Toys and electrical appliances make up 56% of the alerts on products from China. Children’s equipment and cosmetics follow, a long way behind.
| Item | Alerts |
|---|---|
| Toys | |
| Electrical appliances and equipment | |
| Childcare articles and children's equipment | |
| Cosmetics | |
| Lighting chains | |
| Machinery | |
| Chemical products | |
| Clothing, textiles and fashion items |
Why they were flagged
Chemical risk, which covers restricted substances such as phthalates, lead or cadmium, is the most common hazard, ahead of electric shock and choking.
| Item | Alerts |
|---|---|
| Chemical | |
| Electric shock | |
| Choking | |
| Injuries | |
| Fire | |
| Environment | |
| Burns | |
| Damage to sight |
An alert can list more than one risk, so these figures add up to more than 1,528.
Where they were sold
Since late May, when the Commission began recording online sellers in its weekly reports, 40% of alerts on products from China have named one.
| Item | Alerts |
|---|---|
| Amazon | |
| AliExpress | |
| Shein | |
| Temu | |
| eBay | |
| Wish | |
| TikTok Shop | |
| Allegro |
One alert can name several marketplaces. Another 59 alerts named only other online shops. Larger marketplaces list more products, so these counts show where authorities found products, not how safe each platform is.
Who flagged them
France raised the most alerts on products from China, followed by the UK for Northern Ireland, Hungary and Germany.
| Item | Alerts |
|---|---|
| France | |
| UK (Northern Ireland) | |
| Hungary | |
| Germany | |
| Poland | |
| Sweden | |
| Spain | |
| Italy |
2026 against 2025
Alerts on products from China were lower than a year earlier in the first quarter, then rose sharply from April.
| Period | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| January–March | 541 | 413 |
| April–June | 441 | 630 |
| July to week 38 | 430 | 485 |
| Weeks 1–38 | 1,412 | 1,528 |
| Share of all alerts | 40.1% | 57.4% |
What importers should check
- Search Safety Gate before you order. Look for alerts on the same product type and read the details, because no match does not prove a product is safe. How to check the database before ordering.
- For toys and electrical goods, ask for test reports. They should cover the product’s harmonised standards, such as the EN 71 series for toys or the EN 60335 series for household appliances, and match the exact product you are buying.
- For chemical risk, ask for lab reports on REACH restrictions. Cover the substances that apply to the product, such as phthalates in plastics and lead or cadmium in metal parts.
- If you sell on a marketplace, have your GPSR file ready. That means an EU responsible person, complete product information and a way to act on a recall. The five GPSR evidence gaps to close.
- Watch new alerts every week. Our free Safety Gate alert monitor filters the Commission’s feed by category, and the weekly digest sends new alerts by email.
Method and sources
- Data: the European Commission’s Safety Gate weekly reports in XML, reports 2025-01 to 2025-52 and 2026-01 to 2026-38, downloaded on 29 September 2026.
- 7,368 alerts across 90 weekly reports, each counted once by its case number.
- Cross-check: counted the same way, our 2025 totals (4,705 alerts, 2,020 on products from China) are within 1% of the Commission’s own Safety Gate 2025 report (4,671 and 2,006).
- Country of origin is taken as recorded in each alert. “China” means the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong is recorded separately (41 alerts in 2026) and not included. 244 alerts in 2026 had an unknown origin.
- Risk types are counted per alert, and an alert can list several.
- The online-seller field is filled in from week 21 of 2026, so online figures use weeks 21–38 only and have no 2025 comparison.
- Safety Gate records which products national authorities checked and notified. It is a record of enforcement, not a measure of how safe all products from a country are.
- The Commission authorises reuse of Safety Gate information provided the source is acknowledged and the meaning is not distorted.
Cite this data
The figures and tables on this page are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0). You can reuse them for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you credit SinoSource and link to this page. For the underlying data or a comment, email info@getsinosource.com.
SinoSource, “EU Safety Gate Report 2026: products from China”, 29 September 2026, https://www.getsinosource.com/safety-gate-report. Data: European Commission, Safety Gate. Licence: CC BY 4.0.