Rome, 4 February 2011
Rome
Trade barriers in the EU – how the Embassy of Sweden might help
your company
Globalisation is increasing the opportunities for companies to crossborder trade. New foreign markets open new opportunities for
Swedish companies, as well as the Swedish market should be an
opportunity for foreign companies. Open trade is an extremely strong
way to promote growth and to alleviate poverty in the world. Sweden
and Italy are both members of the European Union and belong to the
same internal market. Moreover, Sweden and Italy enjoy good trade
relations and Italy is among the top-ten countries in the world for
both Swedish exports and imports.
One of the founding principles of the EU’s internal market is that
goods should be able to be traded freely within the Union.
Nevertheless, Swedish companies might sometimes encounter
problems in the EU and sometimes these could be defined as trade
barriers. These trade barriers could be all types of official measures
that hinder or make it harder to trade with goods or services, both
concerning import and export. Examples of possible trade barriers are
fees, technical barriers, quantitative barriers, non correctly applied
rules of origin, special documentation requirements at the border,
measures related to intellectual property, difficult or lengthy
bureaucracy, corruption within an official administrative body,
discriminating state procurement or political interference in judicial
or licence procedures.
Some trade barriers can be hard to overcome, especially for smaller
and medium sized companies. This can lead to substantial economic
losses for the companies concerned. The Swedish Embassies all over
Postal Address:
Casella Postale 7201
I-00100 Roma-Nomentano
Italy
Telephone:
+39 06 441 941
E-mail:
ambassaden.rom@foreign.ministry.se
Visitors' address:
Piazza Rio de Janeiro 3
Fax:
+39 06 441 947 60
Web address:
www.swedenabroad.com/rom
2(2)
Embassy of Sweden
Rome
4 February 2011
the world are eager to help Swedish companies that are experiencing
trade barriers. The Embassy of Sweden in Rome is willing to discuss
any barriers to trade experienced by a Swedish company in Italy. The
Embassy also has direct access to expertise in Stockholm in the field
of trade barriers. Together with the company the Embassy can discuss
different possibilities on how and if to act, including the European
Union’s informal network for solving problems on the internal
market- SOLVIT.
If you represent a Swedish company on the Italian market and if you
in confidentiality would like to discuss a possible trade barrier, or if
you simply have any questions on the text above, please contact
Counsellor Mattias Broman at the Embassy of Sweden in Rome. (Tel
06 44 194 259, email: mattias.broman@foreign.ministry.se). The
Embassy will only act when the concerned company and the Embassy
agree on a way forward.