Paris (AFP) – France has urged the European Union to take measures against Asian e-commerce giant Shein, two ministers said Thursday, following an uproar over sales of childlike sex dolls on its French website. Shein opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Paris on Wednesday with activists up in arms over the dolls and the environmental imprint of the fast-fashion brand.
While the shop at the BHV department store remains open, the French government has moved to suspend online sales while it checks that the e-platform is complying with French laws. French ministers on Thursday said it was time for the European Union to take measures against the brand. “The European Commission must take action. It can no longer wait,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told broadcaster France Info. “The commission has conducted certain investigations. It must now accompany them with sanctions,” he said.
The commission has been looking into the Chinese-founded fashion giant now based in Singapore over risks linked to illegal products. The probe follows questions over how Shein and fellow fast-fashion titan Temu protected consumers, including what measures they had in place to report illegal products. EU lawmakers have also approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.
The French junior minister for digital platforms, Anne Le Henanf, said she and Finance Minister Roland Lescure had sent a letter to the European Commission urging the EU’s executive arm “to use all its powers to shed light on Shein’s actions.” “Platforms that benefit from the European market must adhere to its principles,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “The era of impunity is over.”
Shein said it was banning all sex dolls on its French website after a fraud watchdog alerted authorities over its sale of sex dolls resembling children. French newspaper Le Parisien posted a picture of a childlike doll measuring around 80 centimeters (30 inches) in height and holding a teddy bear that it said was sold on the website. It cited a product description that made clear it was being sold for sexual purposes.
The scandal did not deter hundreds of shoppers from flocking to the upper-end BHV department store in central Paris on Wednesday, eager to check out a brand they might actually be able to afford. “The dolls didn’t stop me from coming,” said Fatima Mriouch, a 48-year-old education worker. Outside, activists distributed a flyer denouncing “suspected forced labour” and “pollution,” and urging passersby to sign a petition against Shein’s presence in the Paris store. Frederic Merlin, director of the SGM company that operates BHV, has said he hopes Shein will help increase footfall at the department store.
© 2024 AFP
