Sweden Repeals Proposal for Chemical Tax on Clothing and Footwear Products

The Swedish government planned to introduce a chemical tax on clothing and footwear in April 2021. Due to the pandemic, the implementation was postponed to January 2022. Recently, the Swedish government announced that the proposed chemical tax on clothing and footwear would be dropped and not be introduced on January 1st, 2022 due to some practical difficulties in the chemical tax introduction. Changed customs rules in Sweden have created difficulties in imposing the tax for private imports from countries outside the EU. The Swedish government also considered it inappropriate to impose a chemical tax on clothing and footwear in the current economic situation when the apparel industry is undergoing structural reforms. In addition, new or planned rules on hazardous substances covered by the proposal have reduced the need for tax collection.

The original tax proposal applied to all clothing and footwear produced or imported into Sweden from abroad. The purpose was to phase out hazardous chemicals in order to reduce health problems for consumers that are exposed to the chemicals, to reduce environmental impact during manufacturing, washing and waste, and to increase the quality of recycled materials.

References

1. SGS SafeGuardS No.026/21
2. New Released by the Textile Importers

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