France calls for EU probe into Shein sex dolls, weapons
French government officials said the European Union should take action against Shein, claiming the Chinese online retailer had violated the bloc’s regulations by selling child-like sex dolls and banned weapons on its marketplace.
France moved to ban Shein on Wednesday over illegal products, prompting the company to suspend its market in the country while it reviews how third-party sellers operate there. It had already stopped selling all sex dolls worldwide.
“The platform clearly violates European rules,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview with radio station Franceinfo.
“The European Commission must act. It cannot wait any longer.”
Shein’s website in France was still viewable on Thursday. But it showed only its best-known own-brand clothing, rather than the wide range of toys, household goods and gadgets normally available on the market and a growing source of revenue for the company.
Shein did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Thursday.
As part of the crackdown on Shein, France’s budget and small business ministers visited Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport on Thursday, where millions of packages arrive by air cargo. They said they blocked 200,000 packages, which will be examined by customs officials and France’s consumer watchdog.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Roland Lescure and France’s digital minister Anne le Henanff wrote a letter to EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen late on Wednesday, calling for the European Commission to investigate Shein “without delay”.
“France warns the European Commission and all member states about these serious violations within its borders and expects similar risks regarding the activities of this platform in other European Union countries,” they wrote.
A commission spokesman said the executive arm of the 27-nation bloc was in contact with Shein following France’s complaint. The spokesman said breaches of EU law could lead to further action by the Commission, but added that the EU did not intend to suspend any EU-wide platforms.
Former European Commissioner and German state chancellor Gunther Oettinger, who advised Shein, said the company should “be as transparent as possible and take the right course if necessary”.
“I’m sure Shein is taking this seriously. You can see that they have already delisted the products,” he told Reuters.
German retail industry group HDE also called on the German government and EU officials to take a tougher stance against Shein.
“There must be consequences for violations of laws and regulations,” HDE chief executive Stefan Genth told Reuters on Thursday.
Germany’s state-backed product testing group Stiftung Warentest said last week that 110 of 162 products it tested from Shein and rival online platform Temu did not meet EU standards, citing toxic metals in unsafe toys and jewellery.
The Commission has the power to investigate major online platforms for breaches of the EU Digital Services Act, which requires them to collect and verify information about third-party sellers and check marketplaces for non-compliant products.
For confirmed violations, fines of up to six percent of the company’s global annual turnover can be imposed.
Shein had global revenue of US$37 billion ($57 billion) in 2024, according to parent company Roadget Business Pte Ltd’s most recent filing in Singapore.
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