“The first country in the world to legislate to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion”: certain online sales called into question

Les sites comme Shein proposent des produits à prix cassés. MAXPPP – Rémi DUGNE

L’Assemblée nationale a adopté des mesures en première lecture, jeudi après-midi. Explication.

Towards a small revolution in online sales ? France will become "the first country in the world to legislate to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion" , greeted the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, on Thursday. The National Assembly adopted, in fact, unanimously, in the afternoon, measures aimed at curbing this phenomenon of online sales of cheap clothing, mainly imported, which often end up in the trash after a few uses.

This trade, driven by the decline in purchasing power, has made sites like Shein and Temu successful. But at the same time it has weakened many ready-to-wear brands in France.

"The textile industry is the most polluting »

But the text carried by MP Anne-Cécile Violland particularly highlights environmental issues. "The textile industry is the most polluting, it represents 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, denounces the elected official, quoted by Le Figaro.

This text "disproportionately penalizes the most cost-conscious consumers"

The text validated at first reading provides in particular a ban on advertising and a “penalty” environmental, which could increase the price of these products (up to 10 euros per product). For Shein, this text "disproportionately penalizes the most cost-conscious consumers".

The Horizons group's bill, supported by the government, will now have to be examined by the Senate.

“Africa must no longer be the trash”

France will offer à the European Union to ban the export of used clothing, we learned on Thursday from the ministry ;era of the Ecological Transition, at a time when the “fast fashion” was at the center of the debates at the National Assembly. According to United Nations data, the EU exported 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles in 2022, more than double compared to the previous year. 2000. African countries are particularly impacted by environmental damage caused by items that cannot be resold and end up in landfills. France wants its proposal, supported by Sweden and Denmark, to be discussed at the council of environment ministers on March 25, Brussels. "Africa must no longer be the dustbin of “fast fashion”", denounced the Ministry of Ecological Transition.