European clothing and textile organisations this week have called for action to curb the phenomenon of ultra-fast fashion, which is linked to the inflow of inexpensive and low-quality clothes from outside Europe. By informing against the negative consequences of this phenomenon, i.e. the increase in waste and the problems of the European industry, they have indicated that they expect, inter alia, to strengthen control of digital platforms, implement the improvement of the EU Customs Code and lift work exemption for shipments of little than EUR 150.
Chinese sales platforms exploit loopholes in taxation law and lead to uncontrolled expansion on Polish and European markets – the representatives of the national clothing manufacture point out. Low-value packages are practically not controlled in any way and are not subject to customs tax, making Chinese products much cheaper. As the European Commission points out, last year 4.6 billion packages with products below EUR 150 were brought to the EU. By comparison, it was 2.3 billion a year earlier and 1.4 billion in 2022. Last year, this inflow accounted for 5% of all EU clothing sales, but already 20% of online sales. The increasing popularity of ultrafast fashion raises concerns for European producers and hence calls for EU decision-makers at Première Vision. 1 of its signatories is the Polish Association of Employers of the Clothing and Textile manufacture (PIOT).
– Polish clothing manufacturers, and indirectly textile manufacturers, who produce natural materials for the clothing industry, have late had tremendous problems with the increasing activity of Shein, Temu, Alibaba – Says Newseria agency Aleksandra Krysiak, manager of the Association of Employers of the Clothing and Textile manufacture PIOT. – We estimation that about 30 percent of packages of low value go to the Polish market. We can't control those packages about their contents.
In mid-July, representatives of the manufacture called on the Polish government to intervene urgently to solve the problem of flooding the Polish marketplace with inexpensive clothing products from Asia. As they pointed out, legal imports of clothing, accessories and footwear from China were estimated at PLN 82 billion last year, of which PLN 58 billion are the clothes themselves. The actual turnover may be much larger, due to the fact that packages with a declared value of up to 150 euro are not recorded. In addition, these consignments are exempt from customs duties, so the value of the products sent may be undervalued. The European Parliament estimates that this may affect 65% of shipments.
In the opinion of industry, it is essential to seal borders and guarantee fair competition and consumer protection. The proposals they make include strengthening customs controls and introducing stricter rules on marking of goods.
– We are in favour of introducing the same restrictions for all entities active on the Union marketplace and on the Polish market. The exemption from the fees of these tiny packages should be abolished, as rising prices may lead to a somewhat greater awareness of our consumers. At the same time, we can talk about average competitive prices, and at the same time it gives us an additional asumpt to the state budget – indicates Aleksandra Krysiak.
As he emphasises, a change in the marketplace surveillance strategy is besides needed. The clothing manufacture considers that customs controls are not adequate and are random. This is to be the case for both Polish and European customs.
– In order to reduce illegal and under-importation, full fiscalisation should besides be introduced in markets and markets, since there is usually a cash trade and no 1 knows how many boxes are introduced there and how many are sold there. The introduction of a full fiscal work would give control of what trade we are talking about. In addition, we propose that the CN code which characterises the product should be included in the Polish strategy and, first, gives us the view, in which product ranges, what are the values of these imports, secondly, we can very easy carry out statistics, both customs and general turnover – adds PIOT Director.
However, the problem of uncontrolled imports of Asian clothing through packages sent through the aforementioned platforms is not limited to issues relating to the protection of the home marketplace from unfair competition. The representatives of the clothing organisations estimation that consumer safety is besides at stake.
– As a rule, these are not products which are marked with labels giving the natural material composition. We have no information about the manufacturers of these packages, we are incapable to find where these products were produced and how safe they were produced. We meet in investigation with an analysis of the natural material composition, which in no way reflects natural fabrics. This is simply a pseudo-advertisement that appears on these platforms. In addition, we know that these products may contain harmful chemicals, dangerous to human life and health, especially for children – convinces Alexander Krysiak.
In March of that year, a study by the Consumer Federation was published from the survey of clothing, accessories and footwear purchased on platforms Temu and Shein. More than half (57.6%) of the 29 tested products contained hazardous dense metals specified as chromium, nickel, lead, cobalt and antimony, at concentrations higher than acceptable limits. These were clothes and underwear decorated with artificial stones, chains, metallic buckles and buckles – these ornaments besides showed the permitted metallic limits. Nickel is 1 of the most common allergens, causing primarily dermatitis. Lead has been known for years as a neurotoxin in the body, peculiarly dangerous for the improvement of the tense strategy in children. In turn, chromium has proven carcinogenic potential.
– These ingredients irritate both the respiratory strategy and the eyes, origin skin eczema, and any of them have cancerogenic properties. Therefore, as a clothing-textile sector, we are rebelling against unfair competition which we are dealing with on the Polish marketplace – convinces the expert in the clothing industry. – I would remind you that these are short-lived things of very mediocre quality, which stay in the country and later fall behind in our landfills or are burned due to the fact that there are no recycling charges for this or for waste. Of course, over time, there is simply a chance that the European Union, erstwhile placing maker work on the market, will partially regulate this import, but it is hard to say whether we will be able to control online platforms.
The challenges arising from the activities of e-commerce platforms have been addressed in the political guidelines of the EC president Ursuli von der Leyen for the 2024–2029 term. In July, the European Parliament adopted proposals for government to aid better control the influx of low-value shipments. The improvement of the EU Customs Code is besides intended for this purpose.
For: newseria.pl
