Fashion, here are the risks of ultra fast fashion and how the government wants to react
Rules ready to force Chinese e-commerce platforms to comply with environmental requirements
They call it 'ultra fast fashion': fashion at bargain prices on online channels. But is it an opportunity or a risk? First of all, the data. In recent years, the number of shipments of small articles purchased via online platforms and destined for the European Union has increased dramatically. According to a European Commission communication on e-commerce, in 2024 alone, 4.6 billion low-value articles, i.e. below 150 euros, were imported (the comparison is with 2.3 billion in 2023 and 1.4 billion in 2022). This means 12 million parcels per day, with a very strong incidence of Chinese online retailers such as Temu and Shein.
The Ministry of Enterprise and Made-in-Italy has drafted an amendment to the annual competition bill that at least tries to impose certain environmental obligations on this category of companies. And it considers a more incisive intervention in the field of taxation, but in this case it must proceed with great caution because this is a subject on which the European Commission is already at work.
The EU Framework
The European Parliament points out that 'some products, purchased via online shops, may not comply with EU safety, eco-design or environmental protection standards and this may pose risks to human health or the environment. Moreover, the availability on online platforms of cheap but non-compliant products may harm EU companies that comply with the rules but cannot compete on price'.
The potential critical issues related to e-commerce platforms have been mentioned in the political guidelines of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the new 2024-2029 mandate. On the table is already a proposal for the reform of the EU Customs Code presented in May 2023, but with the Commission's communication on e-commerce of February 2025, it has gone further: the aim is to introduce a handling fee of EUR 2 for each shipment destined for the EU, plus measures to strengthen the enforcement of product safety rules.
Fears of the traditional sector
For some years now, the associations of fashion companies have been raising their guard. The economic model of ultra fast fashion is based on very low prices that favour disposability, with consequences from the point of view of sustainability (raw materials and finishing treatments that are often not environmentally friendly, the climate footprint of transport and in general non-compliance with the criteria of the circular economy). There is a health safety issue because in some cases - as revealed by a preliminary Commission investigation into Temu, which was also extended to toys and electronics - non-compliant substances are used. The impressive variety of garments offered for sale on these platforms - in some cases over 3,000 new references daily, even with the support of artificial intelligence - also poses significant problems of competition and sustainability of the workforce in traditional companies, both those engaged in the nu
