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Demokratiskolan
The Customs card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 115 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaSweden in the world
  • Centre of gravityThe EU
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionEuropean Parliament election
Sweden in the world

Customs

Taxes & rules for exports & imports

Order something from a country outside the EU and you meet customs (tullen): the taxes and rules that decide what the item actually costs and whether it arrives at all. Customs policy is one of the clearest examples of power Sweden has moved to the EU level: the tariff rates are set in Brussels, but it is the Swedish Customs (Tullverket) that opens the parcels. There is no municipal power to vote on here, all the more reason to understand where it went.

Where does the power lie?1

  • State · control, collection & law enforcement · approx 40 %
  • EU · customs code, tariffs & agreements · approx 60 %

The EU sets the tariff rates and the rules, Sweden carries them out through the Customs (Tullverket). The European Parliament election therefore weighs heaviest here, with the general election second because it steers the Customs' mandate.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityNo power of its own
The regionOn the sidelines
Central governmentThe enforcer
Who decides?
No formal role in customs matters. The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and municipal companies do, however, own many of the ports where goods pass through.
No formal role in customs matters.
The Customs (Tullverket), with the Government (the cabinet) in the EU's Council of Ministers and the Riksdag (Sweden's parliament) behind the Swedish customs legislation.
What do they decide?
Decides nothing about customs, but plans ports, freight terminals and industrial land where trade physically lands.
Regions work on export promotion and transport corridors that affect trade flows, but decide nothing about customs.
Controls the flow of goods across the border, collects customs duties and VAT, fights smuggling. The Government pushes the Swedish line when the EU's rules are negotiated.
Where are decisions made?
In the boards of the port companies and in the municipal council, when port and terminal questions are settled.
In the regional development committees, when freight corridors and business support are prioritised.
At the border and in the Customs' decisions. The Swedish line is shaped in the Government Offices and the Riksdag's EU committee.
Who pays?
Nothing from customs. The port companies are funded by fees, the municipality's efforts by tax.
Nothing from customs.
The central government budget funds the Customs. Most of the customs revenue passes on to the EU's budget.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Questions about the port and freight traffic are raised in the municipal council.
Regional election The regional election steers how the region prioritises freight corridors and support for trading companies.
General election The general election steers the Customs' mandate and Sweden's EU line. Customs decisions can be asked for review.
EU · centre of gravityCustoms is one of the EU's fully shared policy areas: the customs code and the tariff rates are decided at EU level and shaped in the European Parliament election, every five years.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case Your parcel gets held at customs
  1. EU

    The customs union sets the rules of the game

    The EU is a customs union: the same tariff rates towards the outside world no matter which country the item enters through. The customs code and the rates are negotiated by the Commission, the European Parliament and the member states' governments, long before you clicked buy.

    Point of influence

    In the European Parliament election you choose the members who help decide the customs rules.

  2. EU

    Trade agreements can zero out the duty

    The EU's free trade agreements with other countries decide whether your particular item is duty-free. The country the item comes from therefore matters a lot for what you pay in the end.

  3. State

    The Customs picks out the parcel

    Millions of consignments cross the border every week. The Customs (Tullverket) selects which ones to check using declaration data and risk analysis. This time it was your parcel.

  4. State

    Decision: customs duty, VAT and fee

    The carrier often acts as your agent and declares the item for you. VAT (moms) usually applies from the first krona on purchases outside the EU, and customs duty above a certain value limit. The Customs makes the decision, the agent adds its fee.

    Point of influence

    If you think the decision is wrong you can ask the Customs for a review and then appeal to the administrative court (förvaltningsrätt).

  5. Your everyday life

    The payment notice pops up on your phone

    You pay in the carrier's app and collect the parcel the next day. The price came out higher than at the online checkout, and now you know exactly which decisions made it so.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What becomes cheaper and what becomes more expensive for you because Sweden is part of the EU's customs union?

  2. Tariffs can protect jobs in Europe but at the same time make goods more expensive. How would you weigh those interests?

  3. Is it reasonable that the same tariff rate applies across the whole EU, or should Sweden be able to set its own?

  4. Who around you is most affected by tariffs: consumers, business owners or people employed in retail?

  5. The Customs is meant to both let trade through and stop smuggling. How do you think the balance should look?

Glossary

Tullunion
Countries that have removed the customs duties between themselves and apply the same duty towards the outside world, the way the EU works.
Tullkodex
The EU's common rulebook for how goods are to be cleared through customs at the border.
Förtullning
The process when an item is declared, taxed and approved to pass the border.
Ombud
The party that declares the item for you, usually the carrier, which charges a fee for the service.
Omprövning
The right to have an agency decision reviewed again by the same agency before you appeal.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.