PARIS, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Online retailers like Shein will face a "year of resistance" in France in 2026, Serge Papin, the country's Minister for small and medium-sized businesses, said on Thursday, adding that the platforms posed unfair competition to French chains. Speaking to TV station TF1, Papin said it is "unfair" that physical stores are responsible for the goods they sell on their shelves, while online platforms are not. The comments came as a Paris court was 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. Papin said he would like to see Shein's sales plummet in France. "We need to protect ourselves of course, there is unfair competition, they must respect the consumer rules (applied to French retailers)," Papin said. 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. Both France and the European Union have implemented flat 2-euro and 3-euro taxes on small parcels which were previously exempt from tariffs in a bid to curb the sales of Shein and other rival platforms. Papin added that two lawmakers are preparing a bill that would allow the government to suspend online platforms without the need of a court approval. Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Papin's comments. (Reporting by Inti Landauro;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Dominique Patton)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
