SHEIN was pointed out by the British government for insufficient information on labor supervision system

In the UK, companies over a certain size are required to highlight on their websites the steps they have taken to combat forced labour as part of the UK's Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The law also requires companies with global sales of more than £36 million per year to provide a statement prominently on their homepage, dated for the financial year and signed by a director, outlining the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery violations in their supply chains.

Analysts estimate SHEIN's market value is $15 billion and its annual revenue is at least $5 billion.

The "Social Responsibility" page on SHEIN's website states that it will never employ child labor or forced labor, but it does not disclose complete information on working conditions of supply chain personnel as required by British law.

A SHEIN spokesperson said on August 2 that they are finalizing the statements required by UK law and will post them on their website.

Coincidentally, SHEIN also did not provide relevant information to Australian officials.

In Australia, there is a similar law that requires companies with annual revenues of more than A$100 million to submit an annual modern slavery statement to the Australian Border Force (ABF).

The Australian Border Force said foreign entities exporting to Australia with revenue exceeding a threshold must submit a declaration.

According to ABF's existing registration information, as of August 4, neither SHEIN nor its Australian subsidiaries had submitted such a statement.

A Shein spokesperson said the company complied with Australian law but did not mention whether it had filed a declaration. The ABF did not provide any further information about Shein.

Low product prices and lack of transparency compared to other companies in the same industry

Shein, based in China, has taken the fast-fashion world by storm in the past 18 months, with more than 23 million followers on its Instagram and TikTok accounts, mostly young women, who use the platforms to show off their purchases of clothes, such as $9 dresses and $15 shoes.

According to data from web traffic analysis company Similarweb, SHEIN's website received more than 160 million visits in June, far exceeding competitors Zara and H&M.

The company’s ultra-low prices and lack of transparency have prompted labor watchdogs, including the Workers’ Rights Alliance and the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, to question how it can make money at low prices. Its largest investors, Sequoia Capital China and Tiger Global Management, both declined to comment on the incident.

Some of Shein's main competitors, including H&M, Zara owner Inditex, ASOS, Boohoo and Zalando, all publish statements on their websites along with more detailed information about their supply chains, such as factory lists and codes of conduct.

H&M’s website includes a downloadable spreadsheet with the specific names and addresses of thousands of factories and processing facilities. Inditex has an eight-page downloadable code of conduct and a map showing its number of factories and suppliers in each country.

Could the certification information provided on SHEIN’s “Social Responsibility” page be fake?

In addition, the editor learned from Reuters that the previous "Social Responsibility" page on the SHEIN website showed that the factories it cooperated with had been certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and SHEIN complied with labor standards and was recognized by international organizations such as SA8000 .

SA8000 is a management systems standard based on international human rights principles outlined by the International Labour Organization and the United Nations, and it measures company performance in eight areas, including child labour, forced labour and health and safety.

ISO is a global organization that sets standards for business, industry, and technology. Companies pay certification bodies to implement and audit these standards in their organizations.

Social Accountability International, which administers the SA8000 standard, said SHEIN is not certified through its program and has no connection with the company.

After Reuters raised the issue with Shein, the company removed the page. The same URL now directs users to a new "social responsibility" page that does not mention ISO or SA8000.

SHEIN has been caught up in a storm of plagiarism some time ago, and now it has been accused of insufficient information on its labor supervision system. The editor will continue to pay attention to the progress of the incident and strive to provide you with the latest news.

E-commerce platform

Independent website

SHEIN