Starting September 1, France will impose financial penalties of up to €19.50 per item on ultra fast fashion products sold by companies such as Shein, Temu, and AliExpress. The measure, published Friday in the Official Journal, marks a bold escalation in Europe’s fight against disposable clothing and its environmental toll.
How the Penalty System Works
The new rules stem from a law adopted by Parliament in early July, which defines ultra fast fashion using two cumulative criteria: the volume of clothing placed on the market and the incentive to repair—calculated as a coefficient comparing the product’s price to its repair cost. The decree issued by the Ministry of Ecological Transition sets penalty amounts based on each product’s environmental score.
Penalties will rise progressively, reaching up to €19.50 per piece by 2030, with a cap at 50% of the pre-tax price. The measure targets a wide range of garments, including boxers, briefs, socks, shirts, jeans, skirts, dresses, swimwear, coats, jackets, trousers, sweaters, T-shirts, and polos sold on Asian platforms.
Concrete Examples of Fines
By 2026, companies falling below the established environmental threshold will pay €0.50 per boxer, brief, or pair of socks. The penalty climbs to €2 for a T-shirt, €9 for a pair of jeans, and €12 for a jacket. These figures illustrate the government’s intent to make ultra fast fashion economically unattractive.
- Boxers, briefs, socks: €0.50 per item from 2026
- T-shirts: €2 per item from 2026
- Jeans: €9 per item from 2026
- Jackets: €12 per item from 2026
- Maximum by 2030: €19.50 per piece, capped at 50% of pre-tax price
Government Defends Its Pioneer Role
Mathieu Lefèvre, the minister delegate for Ecological Transition, hailed the move on social media platform X. “With the entry into force of this penalty, France, a pioneer in Europe in the fight to regulate these practices, deploys a powerful and effective instrument against a model based on a garment going from store shelf to household trash in record time,” he wrote.
Lefèvre added that the harmful effects of ultra fast fashion on the environment and the economy are well documented, and the government is determined to act. His office had previously stated that the penalties would generate a financial envelope “largely sufficient” to offset bonuses planned for more virtuous companies, though no forecast amounts were disclosed.
Protecting Domestic Retailers
The law was rewritten two and a half years after its initial proposal to tighten its focus on ultra fast fashion while shielding companies that employ workers on French soil. Lefèvre’s office said it had tested the decree’s effects on brands like Kiabi, Decathlon, Jules, Petit Bateau, E.Leclerc, and Carrefour, confirming that “the mechanism would not affect them.”
When asked in early July about exemptions for fast fashion companies such as Primark, Zara, Uniqlo, or H&M, the office argued that the businesses “responsible for the difficulties facing the French textile sector” are “above all Shein and Temu,” whose sales volumes are “not comparable with a Zara.”
A Broader Regulatory Push
France’s move comes amid growing global scrutiny of ultra fast fashion. Earlier this year, Shein was fined over €22 million for what regulators described as sanctioning “not errors but a model.” The new penalty system represents the next step in a coordinated effort to curb the environmental and economic damage caused by low-cost, high-volume clothing retailers.
