EU calls on Shein to respond to claims of fake discounts and pressure selling
The European Commission has given fast-fashion retailer Shein one month to respond to a probe into practices its regulator believes could potentially be breaching consumer law.
Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is co-leading the investigation which has called on the online marketplace to address several issues including allegations of fake discounts, pressure selling tactics and unclear information regarding customer rights.
Advertisement
The CCPC said fake discounts potentially include pretending to offer better deals by showing price reductions that are not based on actual prior rates as required by EU law.
It said other issues include using false deadlines to pressure consumers to purchase, displaying incomplete or incorrect information about consumer's rights on returns and refunds, deceptive product labels, misleading or deceptive claims about sustainability benefits, and making it difficult for consumers to contact Shein with questions or complaints.
Information has also been requested to assess the company's compliance with further obligations including those around product rankings, ratings and reviews, and third-party sellers.
The CCPC said Shein has one month to propose commitments on how they will address the identified consumer law issues.
Advertisement
The EU Commission probe is being conducted along with national consumer authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
Depending on the company's reply, the EU consumer protection network may enter a dialogue with the retailer.
If Shein fails to address the concerns, national authorities can investigate further and may take enforcement measures to ensure compliance, which may include fines based on its annual turnover in the relevant member states.
Patrick Kenny, CCPC Commission member, said: 'Consumers should be allowed to shop without being put under pressure by fake deadlines or misled by fake discounts.
Advertisement
'They also need clear information about how consumers can contact the company, how to return an item and receive a refund.
'In this case, the CCPC and the CPC Network have identified several practices that could mislead consumers or undermine their consumer rights.
Ireland
Ireland will need dedicated clinic to deal with ph...
Read More
'E-retailers and online marketplaces have a legal obligation to provide transparent and honest information about the products they sell, and consumers' rights around returns.
The CCPC takes any breaches of the law very seriously and looks forward to constructive engagement with Shein during the course of this investigation.'
Advertisement
Shein has been contacted for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Micheál Martin to attend major North-South business conference
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will meet business leaders from across the island of Ireland at a conference taking place against the backdrop of economic uncertainty driven by US trade and tariff policies. Mr Martin will address the Joint Business Council All-island Business Conference in Dundalk on Thursday. Advertisement The conference is centred around protecting all-island businesses in a new global environment, with heightened geopolitical disruption. The event will bring together more than 150 business leaders, stakeholders and public policymakers to focus on the 'interconnected and cost-effective ways that businesses operate on an all-island basis'. The conference is jointly held by business representative groups, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec). They said businesses across the island are eager to see aligned policy support from both the Irish and UK governments that unlocks economic opportunities and broadens the benefits of cross-border cooperation. Advertisement According to Ibec and the CBI, more must be done to strengthen and future-proof the all-island economy by enhancing collaboration around trade, infrastructure, sustainability, workforce integration, private investment and long-term resilience. Danny McCoy, CEO of Ibec, said: 'The restoration of the North-South Ministerial Council has cleared the way for improved cooperation across the island. 'However, the rise in global uncertainty stemming from US trade and tariff policies and growing geopolitical disruption means the all-island economy must focus on building resilience and deepening collaboration.' Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, said the conference comes at a critical time for businesses across Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the EU. Advertisement She added: 'The disruptive impact of tariffs, tax retaliation, and a changing global order has only reinforced the urgent need to strengthen cross-border economic ties on the island of Ireland. 'In the current climate, policy stability and certainty are not optional but are prerequisites for investment in sectors that matter most to both of our economies, from manufacturing and agri-food to life sciences.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Thursday briefing: What sparked days of racially charged violence in Northern Ireland
Good morning. Over the past three nights, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, has been rocked by riots. At least 17 police officers have been injured, while homes, businesses and vehicles have also been damaged. The unrest erupted after a vigil on Monday for a teenage girl allegedly sexually assaulted by two 14-year-old boys. The boys had appeared in court earlier that day and were charged with attempted rape, where a Romanian interpreter read them the charges. Police said the unrest escalated into racially motivated violence, with mobs targeting foreign residents in the County Antrim town. They broke windows and tried to set fire to curtains, leaving families terrified in their homes. On Wednesday, a fire broke out at a leisure centre during a third night of disorder. Smaller protests took place on Tuesday night in Lisburn, Coleraine, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Belfast. In one video shared online, a woman tells the rioters: 'Be careful, lads.' A man then informs her there were people living in one of the houses being attacked. She replied: 'Aye, but are they local? If they're local, they need out. If they're not local, let them fucking stay there.' Liam Kelly, the chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents officers, said police prevented 'a pogrom with consequences too painful to contemplate'. For today's newsletter, I spoke to Rory Carroll, the Guardian's Ireland correspondent who was on the ground in Ballymena, about what we know so far about the violence, long simmering tensions around immigration and what the area is bracing for next. That's after the headlines. UK politics | Rachel Reeves has pledged to ensure 'working people are better off' and invest billions into energy, housing, transport and infrastructure after the government's spending review announcement. US news | Los Angeles police made more than 300 arrests as protesters defied an overnight curfew imposed after Donald Trump's crackdown against demonstrations. Israel-Gaza war | Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them as they were seeking food from a US-Israeli distribution scheme, according to local health authorities. Austria | A 21-year-old former student who shot dead 10 people including pupils and a teacher at his former school in Austria before killing himself had planned to detonate a homemade explosive there, police have said. Music | Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys musician, songwriter and producer who created some of pop's most beautiful and groundbreaking songs, has died aged 82. Before the Good Friday agreement in 1998, there was very little immigration to Northern Ireland, Rory Carroll tells me. The Troubles and the wider history of the area meant it wasn't really a destination for migrants, but after the peace process, immigration crept upwards – slowly at first and from a very low base. About 293,000 long-term international migrants are estimated to have arrived in Northern Ireland between the years 2001 and 2023, according to Northern Ireland assembly research published this year. The latest census in 2021 shows that about 3.4% of Northern Ireland's population are from a minority ethnic background – compared with 18.3% in England and Wales, and 12.9% in Scotland – making it the least diverse region in the UK. 'People here feel it happened very quickly,' Rory says. 'Some areas have seen a significant number of arrivals, including parts of Belfast, and also here in Ballymena, which is largely a working-class, loyalist area. There are a cluster of streets where a lot of migrants have ended up, particularly from eastern Europe. There has been resentment.' Rory spent much of yesterday speaking to residents, who told him they were 'overwhelmed', or 'being overrun'. While there is some acknowledgment that 'many of the migrants bring skills and do good things in terms of opening businesses, and might be their friends, they say others are causing lots of problems, and that they feel that politicians, public representatives, and the police are not heeding their complaints'. Rory says that the grievances are twofold: one, that some migrants are 'freeloading' off taxpayer-funded services, and two, that they're involved in crime. The perception is that these problems are being ignored by the authorities. The similarities to last year's anti-immigrant riots The clashes in Ballymena feel similar to last summer's anti-immigrant riots that spread across England and parts of Northern Ireland. Rory covered the rioting in Belfast last summer, in the loyalist area of Sandy Row. Foreign-owned businesses there were targeted for attacks, looting and intimidation. 'It was a similar story that you hear in Ballymena,' he says. 'Local, long-term residents not exclusively but largely, white, loyalist, Protestant working class feel that they had an influx of foreigners, many of them non-white, and that no one consulted them about it and that the identity of their local area has been changed.' There was a crucial difference this time, Rory adds, as the latest riots in Ballymena were in response to a specific local alleged crime: two 14-year-old boys, charged with attempted rape. 'People are extrapolating from that and saying it's just the tip of the iceberg,' he says. In Ballymena, many talked about their communities being left behind, similar to the rhetoric we hear around England's 'red wall' seats – and while they've had industrial decline and some economic hardship, 'the statistics tell a more complex story' when it comes to Northern Ireland, Rory says. 'Northern Ireland gets a lot of subsidies from the rest of the UK and has lower housing costs and lower cost of living. The sense of alienation and grievance and the perception of being forgotten and left behind is very real, but in terms of poverty and extreme poverty, those rates are actually worse in northern England than the average similar equivalent rates here in Northern Ireland.' What are people saying on the ground? The situation in Ballymena is grim. Immigrant families who live in the cluster of streets that were attacked are 'extremely fearful', Rory says, while others have left. 'There are houses that are boarded up, windows have been smashed in, and several have been burned. I spoke to a Bulgarian-Polish family and they're in the midst of packing up, about to leave because they feel unsafe. Some want to return to Bulgaria after 15 years here,' he said. Other immigrant families are trying a different tactic. 'One family are putting up these printed stickers with notices that say 'Filipinos live here' along with the British flag,' Rory adds. 'They're trying to specify their identity, because they feel Romanians and other nationalities are the focus of anger and protests.' Some of the white local residents he spoke to are, to Rory's surprise, giving support to the riots. 'They all say it's a shame that it's come to this, violence isn't good, but that there's no other way for outsiders, the government authorities, the likes of ourselves, the Guardian, to pay attention to them. They feel that they've been ignored for so many years and so they feel that the riot was unfortunate, but necessary,' he said. Rory quotes 32-year-old Danielle O'Neill, 32, who told him: 'The riots have a valid point; we are being overpopulated … It sounds like I'm racist but I'm not. It's like an invasion. I don't feel safe walking the streets any more. Just yesterday one of them was following me and eyeing me up.' She went on to tell Rory: 'If they can terrorise our kids, we can terrorise the town.' Who is driving the backlash? The anger isn't just bubbling among one community. 'In this case, this is bringing Catholics and Protestants together in combined rioting against the foreigners,' Rory adds. He had people, who are Protestant loyalists, out at the riots last night tell him that they saw 'lots of Catholics from the other part of town' who were there with them. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'They welcomed them. They say it's brilliant that now they have Catholics and Protestants united in a common front against Johnny Foreigner. And that fits with last August, at Belfast city hall, at an anti-immigrant march, where you had loyalists with British flags marching alongside Dublin anti-migrant activists who had the Irish tricolour. They were marching side by side. You don't often see that in Northern Ireland.' What comes next is unclear. Police made several arrests on Tuesday night, which could deter further violence, but social media could continue fuelling things, Rory says. 'Some people are coming in from other parts of Antrim in solidarity with the local rioters. It's unclear whether tonight Ballymena may or may not kick off again. But then it's very possible that trouble could spread to other parts of Northern Ireland.' After Wael al-Dahdouh's family were killed by Israeli airstrikes in 2023 and 2024, he swiftly returned to his work reporting from Gaza. The Palestinian journalist tells Kaamil Ahmed: 'I want to see the journalists' colleagues from all over the world using their conscience, morals and international law to do what they can for their colleagues and brothers in the Gaza Strip.' Sundus Abdi, newsletters team Once the largest women's prison in western Europe, Holloway closed in 2016. Amelia Gentleman talks to former inmates who have participated in a film about the ways in which the system failed them. Alex Needham, acting head of newsletters Is it time to scrap GSCEs? Sally Weale examines this question and discovers how these high-stakes exams are creating excessive anxiety for youngsters and 'failing the fairness test'. Sundus He changed the face of pop with songs that were gorgeously melancholic, even when they were supposed to be about surfing. Alexis Petridis pays tribute to Brian Wilson, leader of the Beach Boys. Alex In another best culture of 2025 list, our critics name Nickel Boys, Good One and Ocean with David Attenborough some of the top films of the year so far. Sundus Football | Fifa will hold a consultation about expanding the Club World Cup to 48 teams in 2029, if the upcoming summer edition is successful. Winners are set to receive up to £93.2m for participation and prize money. Cricket | Kagiso Rabada took five for 51 as South Africa bowled out Australia for 212 at Lord's but then struggled to 43 for four on day one of the World Test Championship final at Lord's. Football | Thomas Tuchel has told Jude Bellingham to concentrate on intimidating the opposition rather than his England teammates as he opened up on what it was like to manage one of the game's 'special' talents. The England head coach talked about Bellingham's 'edge', which can make him erupt during matches in a way that 'can be a bit repulsive'. Tuchel admitted his mother sometimes had 'mixed emotions' when watching Bellingham play. 'Reeves gambles on 'renewing Britain' to win trust of voters' says the Guardian while the Times has 'Chancellor turns on the tax and spend taps'. 'Brace for tax pain to pay for Rachel's 'fantasy' spending' – no surprises to find that's the Express which the Mail gives some competition with 'A reckless splurge we (and our children) will be paying off for years'. The Telegraph says 'Reeves hits police and defence to fund NHS' and the i paper predicts 'Tax rises now inevitable to pay for Reeves' £2trn spending'. The Financial Times is remarkably brief in headlining it: 'Reeves launches £113bn 'renewal' push'. The Mirror thinks Michelle Mone could help: 'Pay back our £122m for 'faulty' PPE'. Lastly for today the Metro: 'The spend of austerity'. NHS, houses, nuclear submarines: Labour sets out its spending plans Economics editor Heather Stewart explores the winners and losers of the government's spending review A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad Elizabeth McCafferty was at a death cafe in London when she was asked the profound question: 'Are you afraid of dying, are you afraid of not living?' She soon realised that her answer to this question was the latter and by confronting death, she found a way to live with more purpose, clarity and patience. After meeting people who were ill, parents who had lost children and carers of the dying, McCafferty found that many of her questions about death were answered, but also accepted that not all of them could be. She writes of her newfound zest for life: 'In truth, I feel more alive than ever for doing so.' Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump 'gold card' is open for business. Waitlist is open
Trump has said that he is not seeking approval from Congress as he is not providing gold card buyers with citizenship - only a path to citizenship. The path to citizenship requirements for card buyers are unclear and White House officials have said more details will be provided soon. The most common path to U.S. citizenship through naturalization is being a lawful permanent resident for at least five years. It requires the applicant to be least 18 years old when they apply, be able to read, write, and speak basic English (depending on age) and be of "good moral character." Trump has described the card, which he has also dubbed the Trump card, as "somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication." "FOR FIVE MILLION $DOLLARS, THE TRUMP CARD IS COMING!," President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on June 11. "Thousands have been calling and asking how they can sign up to ride a beautiful road in gaining access to the Greatest Country and Market anywhere in the World." The website shows an image of the gold-colored card, emblazoned with a likeness of Trump's face, and asks a few questions including name, region, email address and if an applicant is applying for themselves or as a business. The new website asks interested people to fill out a form that specifies eight regions: Europe, Asia (including Middle East), North America, Oceania, Central America, South America, Caribbean and Africa. Other countries also offer immigration programs that offers permanent residency or citizenship to foreign investors in exchange for investment. Portugal, for example, offers residency and a path to EU citizenship after five years. When he first floated the idea in February, Trump said the card would replace the "EB-5" immigrant investor green card visa program, The EB-5 visa allows immigrant investors the option to invest between $800,000 and $1.05 million to obtain a green card. The investment money is used to help create or preserve U.S. jobs. "Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card," Trump said in February. "They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money, and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people." "It's a road to citizenship for people and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in," he said. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
