Clothes at what cost? French fast fashion bill puts onus on Chinese brands
By: François PICARD
France 24
Issued on: 11/06/2025 -
Play (44:52 min)
Issued on: 11/06/2025 -
Play (44:52 min)
How to stop our needless overconsumption of cheaper and cheaper clothes that pollute the planet?
France's senate passed a bill to curb advertising and tax pollution on fast fashion, with lawmakers even talking up the distinction of ultra fast fashion - garments made in a hurry - more and more using polyester and other polluting plastics, shipped at warp speed by plane and which fall apart after only a few washes.
Has the bill been partially stripped bare though? The new version seems to include a carve-out for European giants that peddle cheap clothes with the focus mostly now on China.
In fact, Europeans like the Trump administration are working to close the tax loophole on the kind of small parcels that go out by the millions from small garment factories in China. And while the likes of Shein and Temu enroll big names to lobby, including a former European Commissioner and a former interior minister of Emmanuel Macron, we asked who’s winning the hearts and minds of consumers in this battle over an industry that represents up to ten percent of humanity’s carbon footprint.
Produced by Rebecca Gniganti, Aurore Laborie and Ilayda Habip.
Our guests
Dana THOMAS
Journalist & Author of "Fashionopolis"
Rasmus Nordqvist
Danish MEP, Group of the Greens/EFA
Pierre CONDAMINE
Overproduction campaigner for the NGO "Les Amis de la Terre'" member of the Stop fast-fashion coalition
Malo BOUREL-WEEGER
Director of Public Affairs of Mouvement Impact France
By AFP
June 10, 2025
Shein is particularly targeted by the legislation - Copyright AFP/File I-Hwa Cheng
Antoine MAIGNAN
The French Senate on Tuesday adopted a bill to regulate the fast fashion industry by sanctioning companies and banning advertisements.
The bill is targeted at Chinese-founded e-commerce giant Shein, which has a reputation for selling lower quality clothes at a very low price.
Easy to order and to replace, fast fashion items are exported to France on a large scale, causing pollution and saturating markets.
The bill, which had been adopted by the lower house, the National Assembly, in March 2024, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, with 337 votes for and only one against.
The vote is not the final legislative hurdle: a joint committee of senators and lower house deputies is expected to meet from September to produce a joint text, prior to the final adoption of the law.
Before final adoption, the European Commission also has to be notified, to ensure the bill complies with EU law.
The bill “is a major step in the fight against the economic and environmental impact of fast fashion, and a strong signal sent to businesses and to consumers,” said the minister for ecological transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, after the vote’s results were announced.
The text plans to “reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry”, said Anne-Cecile Violland, the centre-right member of parliament who proposed the bill.
Fast fashion is a growing market in France, and between 2010 and 2023 the value of advertised products in the sector grew from 2.3 billion euros to 3.2 billion euros.
Around 48 clothing items per person are released into the French market each year, and 35 are thrown away every second in the country, according to the state environmental agency Ademe.
– ‘Triple threat’ –
Pannier-Runacher has called fast fashion a “triple threat” that promoted overconsumption, caused ecological damage and threatened French clothing businesses.
The Senate, dominated by the right, modified the bill to target “ultra” fast fashion companies, such as Asian websites Shein or Temu.
The Senate’s amendments plan to leave out French and European brands that may be affected by the bill, such as Zara, H&M and Kiabi.
The fashion giants will still be obliged to notify their customers about the environmental impact of their products, according to the new bill.
“I have no intention of making French brands that contribute to our country’s economic vitality pay a single euro,” said rapporteur Sylvie Valente Le Hir, member of the right-wing The Republicans party.
The bill will impose stricter sanctions on fast fashion companies by scoring their “environmental communication”. This “eco-score” will affect all fast fashion companies, Pannier-Runacher said.
Those with the lowest scores will be taxed by the government up to five euros per product in 2025 and up to 10 euros by 2030. This tax cannot go beyond 50 percent of the price of the original product.
– Ad ban –
The bill would impose sanctions on influencers who promote such products and ban fast fashion advertisements.
The regulation of the fast fashion industry will only succeed with a “collective effort”, and not by targeting “a single actor,” Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat told RTL radio on Monday.
According to Ruffat, the law would “impact the purchasing power” of French people.
On Monday, France’s Textiles Industry Union called the bill as “a first step” and hoped for its “rapid adoption… even if the text does not entirely fit our expectations”.
ama-dfa-ola-mct/ekf/rmb
The French Senate on Tuesday adopted a bill to regulate the fast fashion industry by sanctioning companies and banning advertisements.
The bill is targeted at Chinese-founded e-commerce giant Shein, which has a reputation for selling lower quality clothes at a very low price.
Easy to order and to replace, fast fashion items are exported to France on a large scale, causing pollution and saturating markets.
The bill, which had been adopted by the lower house, the National Assembly, in March 2024, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, with 337 votes for and only one against.
The vote is not the final legislative hurdle: a joint committee of senators and lower house deputies is expected to meet from September to produce a joint text, prior to the final adoption of the law.
Before final adoption, the European Commission also has to be notified, to ensure the bill complies with EU law.
The bill “is a major step in the fight against the economic and environmental impact of fast fashion, and a strong signal sent to businesses and to consumers,” said the minister for ecological transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, after the vote’s results were announced.
The text plans to “reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry”, said Anne-Cecile Violland, the centre-right member of parliament who proposed the bill.
Fast fashion is a growing market in France, and between 2010 and 2023 the value of advertised products in the sector grew from 2.3 billion euros to 3.2 billion euros.
Around 48 clothing items per person are released into the French market each year, and 35 are thrown away every second in the country, according to the state environmental agency Ademe.
– ‘Triple threat’ –
Pannier-Runacher has called fast fashion a “triple threat” that promoted overconsumption, caused ecological damage and threatened French clothing businesses.
The Senate, dominated by the right, modified the bill to target “ultra” fast fashion companies, such as Asian websites Shein or Temu.
The Senate’s amendments plan to leave out French and European brands that may be affected by the bill, such as Zara, H&M and Kiabi.
The fashion giants will still be obliged to notify their customers about the environmental impact of their products, according to the new bill.
“I have no intention of making French brands that contribute to our country’s economic vitality pay a single euro,” said rapporteur Sylvie Valente Le Hir, member of the right-wing The Republicans party.
The bill will impose stricter sanctions on fast fashion companies by scoring their “environmental communication”. This “eco-score” will affect all fast fashion companies, Pannier-Runacher said.
Those with the lowest scores will be taxed by the government up to five euros per product in 2025 and up to 10 euros by 2030. This tax cannot go beyond 50 percent of the price of the original product.
– Ad ban –
The bill would impose sanctions on influencers who promote such products and ban fast fashion advertisements.
The regulation of the fast fashion industry will only succeed with a “collective effort”, and not by targeting “a single actor,” Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat told RTL radio on Monday.
According to Ruffat, the law would “impact the purchasing power” of French people.
On Monday, France’s Textiles Industry Union called the bill as “a first step” and hoped for its “rapid adoption… even if the text does not entirely fit our expectations”.
ama-dfa-ola-mct/ekf/rmb
No comments:
Post a Comment