By Helen Reid
PARIS (Reuters) -France increased pressure on the European Union on Thursday to launch a formal investigation into Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein over the sale of child-like sex
dolls and banned weapons on its marketplace.
France moved on Wednesday to ban Shein over the illicit products, prompting the company to suspend its marketplace in the country to "review and strengthen" how third-party sellers operate on it. It had already halted the sale of all sex dolls worldwide.
"I believe the platform is evidently in breach of European rules," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview with radio station Franceinfo. "The European Commission must take action. It cannot wait any longer."
Shein's website in France was still viewable on Thursday. But it showed only its own clothing, rather than the vast array of toys, homeware and gadgets normally available on its marketplace, which has been a growing source of revenue for the company.
France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure and Anne le Henanff, the country's digital minister, wrote a letter to EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen late Wednesday, calling for the European Commission to investigate Shein "without delay".
"France alerts the European Commission and all member states to these serious breaches within its borders, and expects there are similar risks associated with this platform's activities in other European Union countries," they wrote.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed the letter was received and said the 27-nation bloc's executive arm would assess it and decide on the next steps.
Shein did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday.
UNSAFE TOYS, TOXIC JEWELLERY: FAILING TO MEET EU STANDARDS
German retail industry group HDE also called on the German government and EU authorities to take a tougher stance against Shein.
"Violations of laws and regulations must have consequences," HDE's managing director Stefan Genth told Reuters on Thursday.
Germany's state-backed products testing group Stiftung Warentest said last week that 110 out of 162 items it tested from Shein and rival online platform Temu did not meet EU standards, citing unsafe toys and toxic metals in jewellery.
Shein is classified as a "Very Large Online Platform" under the European Union's Digital Services Act, and the Commission has powers to investigate platforms for potential breaches of that law.
The DSA requires online platforms to collect and verify information on third-party sellers and check their marketplaces for non-compliant products.
The Commission can impose fines of up to 6% of a company's global annual turnover for confirmed breaches of the DSA.
Shein had global revenues of $37 billion in 2024, according to the most recent filing by its parent company Roadget Business Pte Ltd in Singapore.
CHINESE ONLINE PLATFORMS UNDER SCRUTINY BY FRANCE, EU
Shein has nearly 146 million average monthly users in the EU, according to its latest transparency report submitted under DSA requirements.
Earlier this year, the Commission asked it to provide internal documents and information on risks linked to illegal goods and content on its marketplace.
The Commission is separately investigating Temu, owned by China's PDD Holdings, under the DSA. In preliminary findings in July, it said the platform was breaking EU rules by not doing enough to prevent the sale of illegal products through its platform.
Separately, French prosecutors are investigating Shein, as well as Temu, AliExpress and Wish, for alleged rule breaches including failing to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content via their marketplaces.
(Reporting by Helen Reid in London, Dominique Vidalon and Gabriel Stargardter in Paris and Rene Wagner in Berlin; Editing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson, and Joe Bavier)
