Report 6/21: Increased e-commerce increased chemicals risks

Shopping online, especially from companies outside the EU and EEA, can pose a risk to both health and the environment if consumers are not sufficiently conscious and informed and sellers are not knowledgeable and honest. This risk is higher when buying from companies without physical stores in the EU and from marketplaces based outside the EU, as consumers may purchase products that do not comply with the requirements of the European chemicals legislation.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency has been commissioned by the Government to present an analysis of the specific challenges regarding e-commerce with respect to products' content of chemical substances that are regulated within the EU. In this report, regulated substances refers to restricted substances that must not be present in a product as well as substances that are subject to information requirements. According to the assignment, we will, if necessary, propose socio-economically efficient measures to address potential issues.