European textile companies join forces to demand 'urgent action' against ultra fast fashion

“Without delay”, “immediately”: European textile and clothing companies write in a joint letter to the European Commission that they “can no longer wait for years to the measures taken against ultra -grape fashion,” as reported by Fashionnetwork.com.

The actors of the fashion and textile industry are impatient with the slow rhythm of the legislative action in relation to Shein, Temu and Aliexpress, the main Asian electronic commerce platforms accused of flooding the European market with reducing price products and of participating in unfair competition, contributing to environmental pollution and depending on exploitation labor practices.

They asked the European Union to take “urgent measures” against ultra fast fashion, to stop the “unprecedented increase in textile waste” and “unsustainable pressure on European companies”, pointing out in a letter seen by AFP that 4,500 million plots were imported in 2024 by “the” largest electronic commerce platforms in the third country. “

For these federations, it is imperative to strengthen customs barriers, especially by implementing the reform of the EU Customs Code “immediately”, instead of within a few years.

It provides the elimination of the exemption of customs rights for assets valued in less than € 150, a measure of which the target electronic commerce giants, which send small plots of China, currently benefit.

The signatories consider it necessary to accelerate the ongoing investigations on these platforms and, when necessary, impose “the most severe sanctions” provided for in European regulations. They also recommend introducing “small plots” rates and open “a dialogue with Chinese authorities.”

Finally, they say it is necessary to “demand” these companies “to appoint representatives (…) so that they can be legally responsible.”

“Act now”

These demands are supported by the representative agency Euraatex (the European Confederation of Clothes and Textile), as well as numerous federations in several countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal.

They will be caught the attention of the European Commission through a letter signed on Tuesday at the Vision Awards Fair in Paris (GL events), which will then be sent to the Commission.

For several months, Asian e -commerce platforms have faced a violent reaction from environmental and human rights associations, European companies and authorities, resulting in research, strong fines and proposed legislation to stop their growth.

These efforts are necessary but insufficient in the eyes of the signatories, for whom the EU has “both the media and the duty to act now,” said Euraratex president Mario Jorge Machado, in a statement sent to the AFP.

“This is the first time that European federations agreed a joint statement,” said Pierre-François Le Louët, co-president of UFIMH.

This letter represents “the beginning of the concrete action without going through the labyrinth of European decision making,” said UIT president Olivier Ducatillion.

At the end of August, the French government also wrote to the European Commission urging him to equip himself with “new exclusive powers” for electronic commerce platforms in breach of the EU law, especially Shein.