Sweden stops 700,000 unsafe products entering the EU market
In December 2025, the Swedish Customs Service (Tullverket) reported that it inspected nearly 1.7 million imported products during the first eleven months of the year, preventing more than 700,000 from entering Sweden and the wider EU market. Of these, around 500,000 were destroyed rather than returned, underlining the seriousness of the risks identified.
Parts for escalators and unsafe children's lamps were just some of the dangerous items that Swedish Customs stopped in 2025.
Photo: Swedish Customs
The majority of the stopped items were toys, soft toys and toy-like lamps, accounting for around 616,000 individual products. In many cases, importers were unable to demonstrate compliance with EU product safety requirements. Of particular concern were counterfeit “Labubu” dolls, where testing identified high levels of hazardous substances, including chemicals associated with endocrine disruption.
Non-compliance was not limited to toys. Tullverket reports a broad range of problematic products intercepted at the border, including counterfeit escalator components, electrical headlamps containing elevated levels of heavy metals, and mobile and laptop chargers presenting fire risks. Banned skin-lightening creams were also identified, alongside approximately 4,000 emergency radios that failed safety checks, despite being intended for use in crisis or wartime situations.
The figures highlight the scale and diversity of non-compliance entering the EU via global supply chains, particularly through low-cost imports and online sales channels. They also reinforce the central role of customs authorities as a first line of defence in preventing unsafe products from reaching the market.
Tullverket emphasises that controls on consumer-facing products, particularly those intended for children, are carried out in close cooperation with other authorities, including the Swedish Consumer Agency, the Chemicals Agency and the Electrical Safety Agency. Where products present significant risks, destruction rather than re-export is increasingly used, removing them entirely from circulation.
From a regulatory perspective, this approach reflects a more assertive enforcement posture at the EU’s external borders, aligned with wider concerns about the volume of non-compliant goods entering via e-commerce and fragmented supply chains. A high proportion of toys purchased from non-EU online platforms clearly fail to meet EU safety requirements, reinforcing the need for robust upstream controls.
For businesses, the message is clear. Importers and distributors remain responsible for ensuring that products placed on the EU market meet all applicable safety, chemical and labelling requirements. The inability to provide a complete technical file or demonstrate compliance when challenged can lead not only to border detention, but permanent removal and destruction of goods.
As enforcement activity continues to intensify, particularly in higher-risk categories such as toys, electronics and consumer products, businesses that rely on complex or opaque supply chains face increasing exposure. Strengthened customs controls, combined with evolving EU product safety requirements, mean that compliance can no longer be treated as a downstream check. It must be built into product design, sourcing and documentation from the outset.
Further information: Press release https://via.tt.se/pressmeddelande/4187556/700-000-farliga-foremal-stoppade-av-tullverket?lang=sv