PARIS — As major brands scale back their sustainability initiatives, France is pressing ahead with legislation aimed at reining in “ultra-fast fashion” platforms such as Shein and Temu, known for their extremely low-cost clothing.

The bill, introduced by Anne-Cécile Violland, a member of parliament from the Horizons party, passed the Senate one year after clearing the lower house of the French Assembly.

The unusually long gap between votes led to some watering down of the original provisions, exempting traditional fast-fashion players such as H&M, Primark, and Inditex-owned Zara.

“It’s a relief that it moved forward, but there has been a shift in the goal of the legislation that it is now specifically targeting what is called ‘ultra-fast fashion,’” said Pierre Condamine, spokesperson for the Anti Fast Fashion Coalition, an umbrella group of 11 environmental organizations in France.

Earlier drafts had adopted a broader definition of fast fashion that included Europe-based brands.

“There is sort of a shift in what was supposed to be an environmental legislation, with the objective to shift the whole sector towards sustainable practices, while now it’s sort of becoming a protectionist text,” he told WWD.

The revised bill targets ultra-fast fashion directly, proposing a tax on small parcels shipped from outside the EU ranging from 2 to 4 euros per package. The fee is intended to slow the influx of packages from Chinese platforms to France, in a move reminiscent of the U.S. ending its de minimis exemption.

Shein and Temu together shipped 800 million packages to France in 2024 — more than half of all parcels sent to the country.

The French government will first notify the European Commission, as several measures, including a total advertising ban on ultra-fast-fashion platforms, require approval at the EU level. This process could take up to three months before the bill goes to the Assembly and Senate joint committee for resolution, likely in the fall in late September or October.

Several key provisions may face scrutiny in Brussels, including the parcel fee, which could conflict with the European Commission’s plan for a bloc-wide fee by 2028, and the proposed national advertising ban.

Although Shein is registered in Singapore, its European headquarters in Ireland could present a legal loophole.

As it stands, the bill mandates eco-contributions from fashion companies based on a “bonus-malus” system — rewarding sustainable practices and penalizing environmental harm.

Penalties could rise to 10 euros per item by 2030, though the methodology for valuing items has yet to be defined. The bill would also eliminate tax advantages for “donating” unsold stock by ultra-fast-fashion brands, which are not permitted to destroy unsold items under an anti-waste law passed in 2020.

A critical element of the bill is its specific definition of “ultra-fast” or “ultra-express” fashion. This distinction leaves out more traditional fast-fashion companies that have a retail presence like H&M, Primark and Zara.

By differentiating between ultra-fast platforms and fast-fashion brands with physical retail locations, the legislation potentially creates a loophole for companies headquartered in Europe — Sweden, Ireland and Spain respectively — even though their production relies heavily on low-wage countries like China, India and Bangladesh via subcontractors and diffuse supply chains.

The original bill passed by the Assembly featured the broader definition, but companies lobbied intensively over the past year for the narrower language, arguing that they contribute to local employment.

Senator Sylvie Valente Le Hir of Les Républicains, who ushered the bill through the Senate, highlighted its targeted approach: “We have drawn a clear line between those we want to regulate — ultra-express fashion — and those we want to preserve, accessible but rooted fashion, which employs in France, which structures our territories, which creates links and supports a local economic fabric,” she said.

The industry group La Fédération Française du Prêt à Porter Féminin praised the bill as a “step forward” in tackling ultra-fast fashion.

“It formalizes the long-standing collective commitment of many stakeholders to defend a fashion industry that respects workers, consumers, citizens, French businesses, and the planet,” the organization said in a statement.

However, Condamine noted that while large global fast-fashion retailers remain profitable – Zara’s parent company Inditex reported sales were up 4.2 percent in constant-currency in the first quarter on Wednesday — French high street brands like Camaieu and NafNaf have entered administration, and independent stores continue to shutter.

“The economic crisis in the clothing industry in France, it started way before Shein,” Condamine said. “It started when fast fashion — Zara, H&M, Primark — arrived. Now they are saying if they’re targeted, it will be a catastrophe [for jobs]. But they’re doing great economically, and they’re part of the problem.”

Some lawmakers described the bill as a “strong first signal” and indicated that fast fashion as a whole — including the European players with physical presence — could face future regulation due to unsustainable business practices.

On the other hand, critics — chiefly Shein — have said the legislation punishes cost-conscious consumers and lower-income households.

The company, which markets itself under the slogan “Fashion is a right, not a privilege,” has staged events in French cities like Béziers. On Sunday, its director of government relations, Fabrice Layer, held a public presentation in front of Paris city hall to rally public support for the company.

“We ultimately find ourselves with a law that is not only anti-Shein, but anti-Shein customer,” Quentin Ruffat, Shein’s spokesperson in France, told AFP. “This law, if passed, will directly penalize our customers’ wallets and drastically reduce their purchasing power.”

The company has also accused France’s fashion establishment of protecting legacy brands and says it will continue lobbying to amend the bill further.

Shein representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

New research from l’Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) shows that in the first quarter of 2025, Amazon, Shein and Temu together accounted for 24 percent of online apparel sales by value, representing 7 percent of total apparel consumption across all channels. Online sales made up 29.4 percent of apparel purchases by value, including the online stores of traditional retailers.