The proposed new legislation in Sweden, set to come into force from 2022, would tax clothing and footwear manufacturers which use any of 151 pre-defined harmful substances in their products.
It would mean that companies based in the country would be forced to pay a tax on garments and footwear unless they can prove that they do not contain these substances.
Swedish companies have complained that the proposals would make them uncompetitive with overseas rivals, and would force them to carry out costly tests to prove their products are free of chemicals which many say they know are not used in their production.
However, Jacobsson welcomed the proposals, outlined in an inquiry report entitled ‘Tax on fashion – to remove harmful chemicals’, which she said would make Sweden a global leader in the removal of harmful chemicals from apparel.
“We are very positive that the inquiry is suggesting a tax that actually moves us forward when it comes to phasing out hazardous chemicals and towards a non-toxic environment that we all want,” she said.
Slunge said the tax followed the principle of “the polluter pays”, but he agreed that the costs for industry could be a real problem, particularly for smaller companies.
“We’d like to be much more precise in taxing the problem, that would be ideal, but one of the big challenges is that we don’t have information of what is in these products,” he explained. “Producers and retailers don’t seem to have this information.”
Bergman agreed, adding that supply chain transparency was key: “This is the big problem. The argument from industry is that they don’t have this information. Unless we know what is going into these materials and goods, we will never do anything but rely on serendipity,” he said.
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