Somebody told me this afternoon that if you’re a Swedish company, and if the product you make turns out to be junk, the Swedish king can shut you down, just like that. This guys says there’s some kind of official royal seal of approval you have to get before you can market your goods.
Well? I knew they were closely managed over there, but I had no idea…
Must be true. He could have you locked up too. I heard he has his own son, “Prince Albert” in the can…
The King of Sweden is more or less a figurehead. The country has a Prime Minister/unicameral Parliament goverment.
I doubt the King could shut you down, but it’s possible the goverment could although my quick search of the internet found no reference to it. My suspicion is that they can’t either though. The Swedes have high standards and a high standard of living and if you produce junk, no one is going to buy it.
Duck Duck Goose, I think your source has got it bass-ackwards.
If a company sells something to the royal court of Sweden, they can use this fact in advertisements and the like - and there is indeed a very majestic-looking seal they can put on labels etc. It’s not a big thing anymore - but I guess it was useful advertising a hundred years ago or so. Of course, you can’t continue to use the seal if the royals switch suppliers.
I don’t think the government could shut you down for producing inferior goods,though of course there are FDA-like rules if you make food, safety rules if you make toys, electrical appliances etc. - but I suppose that’s not too unlike USA ? (The difference being that there are no million-kroner lawsuits involved).
But if you want a shot at shutting down Volvo, the Swedish crown princess is actually sorta cute and apparently single.
Yeah, and the King of Sweden has the right to deflower any maiden before she gets married BUT this right cannot be delegated.
I will contact our office in Sweden and try to check this out.
Meanwhile, it is certainly possible that the Swedish government (through the King or not) has the power to prohibit products from being sold. The U.S. Government does that, too – cars that don’t meet emissions standards, drugs that haven’t been approved by the FDA, etc.
The factoid as related to me wasn’t talking about obviously regulated stuff like food and drugs, it was flat-out that “if your Swedish company produces something that is junky, the King can close you down, and you’re out of business. Your product has to pass a royal inspection of some kind.” The person who told me this is usually a fairly sensible person, so I suspect there’s a grain of truth in it somewhere.