France, historically the great country of fashion, which has a strong protectionist drive in its DNA, is always very sensitive to aspects of globalization that it believes are fiscally unfair, dangerous for its culture or disrespectful to the environment. Another example of this philosophy is the bill, approved by a very large majority last Thursday by the National Assembly and which will surely be endorsed by the Senate, with punitive measures against fast and ultra-fast fashion products, especially aimed at Chinese brands. Shein and Temu.

The punishment for the chains that sell these cheap and almost disposable products will consist of completely prohibiting their advertising and imposing a tax on them for their negative environmental impact.

The legislative initiative came from a center-right group, Horizon, an ally of President Emmanuel Macron, which is led by former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. Horizonte presented its proposal taking advantage of the National Assembly’s rule that grants one day a year to each parliamentary group to put to the vote a bill that it considers emblematic and that sets a political profile for its voters.

The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, was very pleased that France became “the first country in the world to legislate to limit the drifts of ultra-fast fashion.”

The ecological penalty linked to the environmental footprint of the textile product may progressively reach 10 euros per garment in 2030, with a maximum limit of 50% of the price of the product.

One of the problems not yet resolved is the exact definition of what is fast or ultra-fast fashion. Decrees after the law comes into force will establish the details. The criteria to take into account will be the volumes produced and the speed of renewal of the collections of these brands.

The alliance of NGOs under the motto “Stop Fast Fashion” had asked parliamentarians to establish severe limits so that the punishment would not only affect Shein or Temu, but other brands such as Zara, Primark, H

A spokesperson for Shein regretted that the French measures will “disproportionately” punish the most humble French consumers, those who have suffered the most from the inflationary spiral of recent years. The company maintains that the punitive parameters are wrong and should instead take into account the percentage of clothing that is not sold and must be thrown away. Shein assures that in its case it is a minimum quota, well below 10%, while some competing firms can reach 40%.

It is evident that, beyond the concern about the damage to the natural environment caused by textile overproduction, in the case of France the dramatic situation of some of its ready-to-wear brands has also played in favor of the law. In recent years there have been many bankruptcies and massive closures of stores in the intermediate clothing and shoe supply sector. Luxury and very cheap brands navigated much better under the storm of covid, post-covid and the war in Ukraine than medium-quality brands.

The Horizonte spokesperson who presented the project in the Assembly, Anne-Cécile Violland, placed emphasis, however, on ecological concern. “The textile industry is the most polluting and represents 10% of greenhouse emissions,” she said. The representative insisted that “it is not a tax” and that the money obtained from the tax will be used to subsidize producers of durable clothing to help them lower their prices.

The left-wing groups in the Chamber, such as La Francia Insumisa (LFI), the socialists and the environmentalists asked in vain that general minimum taxes and import quotas be set, and that conditions of respect for social rights be imposed in the textile industry to avoid situations of flagrant exploitation in the countries where the factories are located. The left fears that the Ministry of Economy, when drafting the regulations, will reduce the aggressiveness of the law due to pressure from the companies.