French Senate Cracks Down on Ultrafast Fashion with Anti-Shein Law

France closes ranks against Shein and Temu. The French Senate has voted today the well-known and controversial anti-Shein law, which seeks to regulate the business of large foreign ultra-fast fashion operators in the country and protect domestic companies. The text, pushed by MP Anne-Cécile Violland has finally been approved by an overwhelming majority, with 337 votes in favor and only one vote against.

The green light from the upper house comes more than a year after the National Assembly, i.e. the equivalent of the Congress of Deputies, approved the first draft of the text. The law that was examined today in the Senate, moreover, contemplates some modifications with respect to the original text, and still has to pass some extra votes.

In particular, the two chambers will now form a joint parity commission (CMP), made up equally of senators and deputies. This body will meet, according to AFP, at the beginning of the school year, and will be responsible for drafting a joint text that will have to be reapproved.

France becomes first country to pass a similar law against ultra-fast fashion

"Never before have so many new garments been put on the market," the agency has claimed in its profile on the social network X, reinforcing the message that initiates and justifies the legislative text. "This boom coincides - the publication adds -; with the growth of brands known as fast fashion, characterized by the launch of a high number of models and the constant renewal of collections."

For her part, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Véronique Louwagie, defended before the senators that "the text has two ambitions: to protect the environment and to safeguard our trade".

The regulation, in fact, directly targets the business model of platforms such as Shein and Temu, under the message that the French textile sector "can hardly cope with the competition". The strong point of the law goes through the implementation of monetary penalties, which can reach seven euros per garment placed on the market in 2027, and ten euros by 2030.

"In the end we find ourselves with an anti-Shein law and anti-Shein users," reacted after the vote the director of communication and spokesman for the Chinese company in France, Quentin Ruffat. "This law, if it is passed, will directly penalize the pockets of our customers and drastically reduce their purchasing power," he lamented, insisting on Shein's main defense argument before the French political scene: the purchasing power of citizens.

The companies affected by these sanctions will only be those that fall into the fast fashion category, which will be measured on the basis of the number of models or references, rather than the exact number of garments. This definition is one of the main modifications with respect to the initial text that reached the French Assembly, and which leaves out other giants of the sector such as Inditex, H&M or Kiabi. Sanctions may, however, be applied to certain European or French companies if they meet the established criteria.

Finally, the Senate has also incorporated an unexpected measure. The text includes the introduction of a tax of between two and four euros on small packages delivered by companies established outside the European Union. This measure is intended to broaden the scope of the legislation to limit the activity of the Asian giant Temu. However, the proposal could be set aside by the Assembly, leaving the decision in the hands of Europe.