On Thursday, the French National Assembly approved a bill that provides for the imposition of a surcharge on sellers of fast fashion, i.e. “low-cost, often remote and delocalised” textile production, who sell their garments in the country. The aim is to discourage the sale and purchase of low-cost clothes with a high impact on the environment and the living conditions of workers.
The surcharge will grow progressively and could reach up to 10 euros per single item of clothing by 2030, on the model of the tax that has already been applied in France to Automobiles more polluting. There bill (number 2129) it was presented at the end of February by parliamentarian Anne-Cécile Violland, who is part of the centre-right Horizons et apparentés (Horizons and Prospects) party, and received government support. Now, after approval by the Assembly, it will have to pass through the Senate.
The bill consists of three articles. The first requires that, in all e-commerce sites that sell fast fashion clothes and accessories, messages are inserted alongside the price that encourage reuse and repair and provide information on their environmental impact. The second article introduces the tax, which is based on the principle of EPR, i.e. extended producer responsibility (i.e. that the producer is responsible for the entire life cycle of the product, from the raw materials used to its disposal). The article therefore establishes that the taxes imposed on clothes and accessories also depend on the environmental impact, the carbon emissions of their production and whether or not they are fast fashion.
The third article instead limits advertising that encourages the purchase of clothes and accessories produced by fast fashion brands. In France there is already one “climate and resilience” lawwhich since 2021 has been responsible for regulating the promotion of fossil fuels.
One of the brands named in the proposed law is Shein, the low-cost Chinese clothing and accessories brand whose products will almost certainly be taxed. In fact, the text states that Shein registers on average more than 7,200 new clothing models per day and makes more than 470,000 different products available to consumers. The company “offers 900 times more products than a traditional French retailer.” Among other fast fashion brands, the best known are Zara, which is part of Inditex, the Spanish multinational that also controls Bershka and Stradivarius, and H&M.
The text also explains that the revenues generated by these sanctions will be used to manage the collection, sorting and treatment of textile waste, but also to provide bonuses to companies that choose to produce garments starting from circularity principles, to support research and development, increase the repair bonus (i.e. a refund every time you choose to have your garment mended in a tailor’s or shoe repair shop instead of throwing it away) and the resources dedicated to reuse, and finance public campaigns on the impact environment and waste prevention in the sector.