PARIS — Online retailers such as Shein will face a "year of resistance" in France, the country's minister for small and medium-sized businesses Serge Papin, said on Thursday (Feb 5), adding that the platforms posed unfair competition to French chains.
Speaking to TV station TF1, Papin said it was "unfair" that physical stores are responsible for the goods they sell on their shelves, while online platforms are not.
A Paris court is set to start hearing an appeal from the government to a December court ruling rejecting its request for a three-month suspension of Shein after child-like sex dolls were found for sale on its marketplace.
Shein, which has since partly reopened its marketplace and said it has set up controls on the products sold there, declined to comment on Thursday.
Papin said such breaches were "systemic" and he was confident the court will be receptive to his argument that Shein presented a "disturbance to public order".
He said that two French lawmakers are preparing a bill that would allow the government to suspend online platforms without the need for court approval, adding that he would like to see Shein's sales fall in France.
The explosive growth of Shein, which sells clothes and accessories at rock-bottom prices thanks to its business model of sending parcels direct from factories in China to shoppers around the world has triggered a backlash in many countries in Europe where traditional retailers are losing ground.
"We need to protect ourselves of course, there is unfair competition, they must respect the consumer rules (applied to French retailers)," Papin said.
France has implemented a two euro (S$3) tax, to take effect from March 1, while the European Union will introduce a three euro tax in the summer on small parcels which were previously exempt from tariffs in a bid to curb sales by Shein and other platforms.
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