Swedish Shipowners Press For Tonnage Tax Regime

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

24 January 2002

The Swedish Shipowners' Association is lobbying hard for a tonnage tax regime to be included in the national government's annual budget, due to be presented in April. "We feel quite lonely within the European Union," managing director Hakan Friberg told industry periodical Lloyd's List, because a number of EU shipping nations, among them notably the UK, have adopted such regimes, which are far more favourable for ship-owners than conventional taxation regimes.

Swedish owners have spent the last seven years pressing for a net wage system, and with that wish come true, they have taken advantage of better economic times to try for the next step forward. "We are serious about this," says Mr Friberg. "There is a big possibility to get tonnage tax this spring, and we are preparing a proposal to that effect."

Meanwhile, there is a plan to form a pan-Nordic shipping agency. Anders Lindstrom, former director general of the Swedish Maritime Administration and now in charge of labour arbitration body Medlinsinstitutet, has been roped in to head a new committee. Its brief is to "discuss with other Nordic countries whether there is any basis for a common view on shipping policy". But Lloyds List is cynical about this proposal, saying that it sounds like an attempt to gain regional publicity while ignoring domestic needs.

The Shipowners' Association itself, which in the past had to represent the divergent interests of owners and workers, has split itself into two. "Labour relations" has been delinked from the mainstream shipowners' association and subsumed into a national employers' confederation, serving as intermediary between shipowners and employees on a variety of issues, including quality agreements and "employer-related" matters.

The original shipowners' association continues with a reduced staff and a smaller role, with Mr Friberg and his crew now free to be "Swedish shipowners' official voice on matters relating to safety, the environment and taxation". Hence their public relations and image-building crusade whose ambit includes tonnage tax, maritime education and much more.

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