The government seeks to impose additional taxes or financial disincentives on these firms due to concerns about the environmental and social impact of their business models.
Refashion collects funding from companies that import textiles into France, with payment rates influenced by brands’ sustainable practices.
The agency may use its ecomodulation system, which varies fees according to corporate behaviour, as a framework for responding to the government’s request for new penalties.
Minister Monique Barbut instructed Refashion to develop a penalty system that takes into account the durability of textiles and footwear sold in the country.
She said in a LinkedIn post: “Ultra fast fashion costs us a lot of money, ecologically and socially, and profoundly unbalances our reuse and recycling sectors. This is no longer acceptable.”
If Refashion implements a durability-based penalty mechanism, it will have to establish objective criteria for assessing the lifespan of clothing and footwear.
The move follows political efforts in France to restrict the activities of ultra-fast fashion operators.
In 2025, France passed legislation targeting companies like Shein and Temu, capping the entry of new garments into the market and introducing fines ranging from seven to ten euros per product in future years.
The French government also urged the European Commission last September to grant powers that would allow online platforms breaching EU rules, particularly those involving ultra-fast fashion brands, to be removed from search results more swiftly.
Germany also weighed mandatory disposal fee for fast fashion imports. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider recently stated that collection systems are overwhelmed and struggle with excess volumes.
