Two and a half years after its submission, Parliament definitively adopted on Monday June 29 a bill aimed at curbing the rise of fast fashion, embodied by the Asian giant Shein. But with a system tightened around “ultra fast fashion”, to preserve “French employment”.
Financial penalties, ban on advertising… Faced with a rapidly expanding phenomenon, the text of MP Anne-Cécile Violland (Horizons) allows us to “aim hard and fair”, welcomed the Minister of Commerce Serge Papin, in favor of this initiative. The main players in fast fashion are targeted, according to the minister, namely “Shein, Temu and AliExpress” and their “economic model based on accumulation, permanent rotation”.
While the textile sector represents nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, these platforms are accused of flooding the market with low-end products at knockdown prices, generating mountains of waste and significant pollution.
Target major Asian platforms
Adopted in the National Assembly last week, the bill was approved Monday in the Senate in an identical wording. A final vote which allows the text to complete its journey in Parliament. “Our country is opening a path,” rejoiced the Minister for Ecological Transition Mathieu Lefèvre, approving the balance of a text which will not “make the consumer feel guilty” and will also preserve “French employment”.
Indeed, in its final version, the reform targets “ultra-express fashion”, defined by two cumulative criteria: the width of the range, that is to say the volumes of clothing placed on the market, and the incentive to repair (a coefficient between the price of the product, compared to what its repair would cost). The objective being to target large Asian platforms (such as Shein and Temu), while sparing European and French companies (such as Zara or Kiabi).
The left regretted this restricted perimeter, a large part of them abstaining during the votes in both chambers. “Under the weight of lobbies, the initial ambition of the text was considerably reduced,” lamented MP Charles Fournier (environmental group). However, “Zara, H&M, Primark, Uniqlo have not become models of sustainable fashion,” he said.
The Stop Fast Fashion coalition of associations, which notably brings together Emmaüs, Max Havelaar and Friends of the Earth, also denounced “a very diminished version” of the text.
Uncertainties about advertising
“We had to have a text that turned around very quickly and was operational,” argued Anne-Cécile Violland in response to these criticisms. “I am comfortable with saying, firstly, we are hitting Shein very hard, and this is the first step,” she added, while saying she “heard” the disappointment of some.
Concretely, the text establishes a financial penalty per product, which will increase over time. A government amendment adopted in the National Assembly reinforced these penalties, which could go up to €20 per piece in 2030. Still capped at 50% of the price excluding tax of the product. Part of these penalties will go to collection and recycling infrastructure.
Furthermore, the text provides that ultra fast fashion companies display messages on their site encouraging in particular “sobriety, reuse, repair”. Above all, it prohibits advertising for these brands, including via influencers. With one caveat: the European Commission has expressed reservations about the conformity of this system with European law.
In response, the French government said it relied on the derogatory principles which allowed, for example, the Évin law to regulate advertising for alcohol and tobacco, explained Anne-Cécile Violland.
