Swedish Tax on Hazards

Swedish Chemicals Agency Proposes Taxation on Hazardous Substances and Textile Chemicals. In December 2013, the Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) published a report entitled "What would a chemical tax on consumer goods look like? – With an example clothes and shoes." The report describes how such a tax might be imposed on this group of products in order to diminish the use of hazardous chemicals and push for substitution and innovation in the chemical field.

The Agency drafted proposed principles that might be appropriate to be used to determine excise duties that could be the basis for a chemical tax on consumer products containing hazardous substances.

According to the Agency, the suggested taxation on clothes and shoes is considered necessary due to the increasing numbers of clothes and shoes containing chemicals that are hazardous for both the environment and health. According to the report, the Agency tentatively suggests the following list of substances: phthalates, allergenic or carcinogenic dyestuffs and antibacterial agents. Those selected substances should each have appropriate methods for measurement. The Agency must therefore conduct an impact analysis based on the proposed principle (ie, by groups of substances and not specific substances) with further investigation which should be carried out before any concrete steps are taken to introduce such economic policy measures.

Also, a complete proposal must be notified to the European Commission before it is implemented. The Swedish Chemicals Agency states that such an economic policy measure of applying a chemical tax on consumer products would complement existing chemical regulations and drive forward innovation and substitution.