2025.09.18
The government's investment is insufficient - the electronics tax must be abolished
When the government last Friday presented its commitment to a clean environment and a non-toxic everyday life, the most important announcement was conspicuous by its absence: the abolition of the electronics tax. Instead, the Swedish Chemicals Agency will receive a limited supplement of SEK 25 million from 2026.
The aim is to strengthen control of products with harmful chemicals, not least imported goods from platforms such as Temu and Shein. Investigations have shown that these companies sell products with banned or dangerous substances, while avoiding the Swedish electronics tax.
APPLiA fundamentally welcomes increased resources to stop illegal products, but believes that the government's efforts are insufficient.
– The electronics tax has never contributed to a toxic-free everyday life, but only made it more expensive for Swedish consumers and worsened competition for Swedish companies. Now allocating a fraction of the revenue to an authority creates an illusion of action rather than solving the problems, says Kent Oderud, chairman of APPLiA.
According to APPLiA, the government's priorities risk having the opposite effect. The electronics tax gives foreign players a competitive advantage in the Swedish market, since they are not liable to tax here. The result is that Swedish consumers are steered towards cheaper but often downright dangerous products.
At the same time, APPLiA welcomes the government's statement that it wants to take an active role in the upcoming revision of the EU's chemicals legislation REACH. It is at the EU level that the issues must be handled to have a real impact, and Sweden can play an important role there.
– We look forward to being a constructive party in this work. Our member companies have extensive experience in handling chemical issues in a responsible manner, and we want to contribute to legislation that both protects people and the environment and ensures fair competition conditions, says Kent Oderud.
