Sweden enforcement

Conversely, in countries where the population is relatively small and where individual consumption of medicines is low and pharmaceutical industry investment is also low, the government is able to enforce low prices for medicines. These countries are typified by the Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Sweden, where there is significant pharmaceutical research, is atypical of the rest of Scandinavia and the medicines price index and medicine consumption are approximately the European average. 

Another problem concerns whether private citizens should have a duty to follow the principle, as these obviously have less knowledge about suitable alternatives than industries. But this has not been a main issue is Sweden either whereas citizens should act upon their best knowledge, the principle is only enforced vis-a-vis corporations and other large users (how this can be done will be discussed later in this chapter) (Dalhammar, 2000). 

So what is the role of OELs in practice in Sweden Although the statutory provisions on monitoring are quite clear, it is recognised that there are problems with achieving good compliance with them. These are partly cultural and partly resource based, and there appears to be a link between them. At the same time it is not apparent to what extent or how strictly the labour inspectorate has enforced such requirements in the past or indeed is likely to do so in the future. Most interviewees, having identified the various we esses in the system tiiat we have discussed here, nevertheless felt that die OEL has an important role. A loose synthesis of their views indicates four possible reasons for valuing the existoice of OELs ... 

Example 1 EMC Enforcement in Europe 78 Example 2 Product Safety Enforcement in Finland Example 3 Product Safety Enforcement in Sweden Legal Requirements and Market Demands 81... 

In most European national jurisdictions (including Sweden, France, and the Netherlands), occupational health and safety standards are enforced by unitary labour inspectorates that fall within the responsibilities of State Departments of Employment or their equivalent (Cunningham and Johnstone 1999 378-379 Walters 1996 302-303 Walters et al. 2011). Some jurisdictions, such as Spain and Italy, utilise localised systems of regulation, while Cermany divides this... 

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