Star Metro - French Senate to vote on regulating fast fashion

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 replace, fast fashion items are exported to France on a large scale, causing pollution and saturating markets.

Adopted by the lower house National Assembly in March 2024, the bill will be voted on by the Senate later on Tuesday and is expected to pass, with backing from the government and widespread support in the chamber.

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.

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 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.

Fast fashion poses a "triple threat", said the minister for ecological transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

"It promotes overconsumption, causes ecological disaster and threatens our businesses," she said.

Slamming an "invasion" of products that "do not last", the minister expressed hope it would help change things in Europe.

Once adopted in France, the European Commission will be notified to ensure it complies with European law according to Pannier-Runacher.

- Targeting fast fashion -

The Senate, dominated by the right, modified the bill to target "ultra" fast fashion companies, such as Asian websites Shein ou 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 5 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.

- Advertisement 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 will add "a tax of 10 euros per sold item of clothing by 2030" and "impact the purchasing power" of French people.

Environmental organisations are also worried that the law may be misinterpreted. Debates may amount to an interesting framework which still lacks substance, according to Green Senator Jacques Fernique.

On Monday, the Textiles Industry Union (UIT) recognised the bill as "a first step" and hoped for its "rapid adoption ... even if the text does not entirely fit our expectations".

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X.Gaboury--SMC