Paris (France) (AFP) – French authorities said Wednesday that they had imposed two fines on Shein totalling more than 22 million euros ($25.5 million), citing problems with product traceability, environmental labelling and delivery times. The new penalties bring the total fines imposed by France against the Asian fashion giant to more than 210 million euros.
Shein said it was contesting the “disproportionate” penalties, arguing that no consumer harm had been established. The Singapore-based company has been under fire since it established operations in France. Last year, the discovery of childlike sex dolls on the Shein platform caused outrage in France and prompted greater scrutiny.
Trade Minister Serge Papin said e-commerce platforms “avoid complying with our rules.” “This is unfair competition, and I am fighting against it,” he said on X. “Since the discovery of child pornography dolls on Shein, we have decided not to let these platforms get away with it, and we will continue until they completely change their practices — or abandon our market.”
The government’s consumer protection agency DGCCRF imposed the penalties following an investigation targeting several e-commerce platforms, primarily based outside Europe, including Shein. The first fine of 5.77 million euros targets Infinite Style Ecommerce Co Ltd (ISEL), which handles sales for Shein. The DGCCRF accuses Shein of failing to comply with a 14-day period required for consumers to be able to reconsider certain purchases and return them free of charge.
The watchdog also accuses the company of omitting mandatory traceability information, such as the countries where its clothing is woven, dyed and manufactured, and of failing to disclose the presence of microplastics in its fabrics. Microplastics, primarily found in polyester, are released into the water with every machine wash, posing a serious environmental threat. The agency also slapped a fine of 16.73 million euros on Shein’s subsidiary Infinite Styles Services Limited (ISSL), accusing it of violations of consumer law.
“We dispute these findings and consider the fines manifestly disproportionate,” Shein said. “There has never been any doubt about the fairness of transactions on our platform, or the quality and safety of the products and services offered,” it said. Following the uproar over the sex dolls, Shein said it immediately removed the products from its marketplace — the section of its website selling third-party products — and banned sex dolls from its site globally.
Campaign groups and politicians accuse Shein of generating environmental pollution, practising unfair competition, selling goods that fail to comply with basic regulations, and imposing poor working conditions in its Chinese factories. In July, France slapped Shein with a 40 million-euro fine, saying it misled customers on price deals and on its environmental impact.
© 2024 AFP
