France fines Shein $26 million over consumer rule breaches; Shein to challenge

PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) - France has fined fast-fashion firm Shein about €22 million ($26 million) over issues with returns, product information and order confirmations, a penalty the company described as disproportionate and vowed to challenge.

The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control said on Wednesday it had fined Shein €16.7 million for the order confirmation issues and €5.8 million for issues with returns and environmental quality information.

"Technical issues, with no impact on consumers and already addressed where necessary, have been used as the basis for an exceptional penalty," a Shein spokesperson said in a statement. "We therefore intend to strongly contest both sanctions in their entirety."

France fined Shein €40 million for misleading discounts in July. Authorities also sought to suspend its marketplace, but Paris' Court of Appeals rejected that move in March.

Shein, which has won over millions of cash-strapped shoppers around the world with rock-bottom prices on clothes, gadgets and accessories, has faced heightened scrutiny in France since November, when the consumer watchdog found sex dolls resembling children and banned weapons for sale on its site.

Since the discovery, "we have decided not to leave these platforms alone, and we will continue to take action until they completely change their practices - or leave our market," Serge Papin, minister for small and medium-sized businesses, said in a post on X.

($1 = 0.8615 euros)

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Inti Landauro; additional reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Mark Potter)