Editing Systembolaget (section)

==Governing laws==
[[File:Systembolaget Växjö 1916.jpg|thumb|Interior of the cashering area of a Systembolaget store with counter service in Växjö, {{circa|1916}}.]]
[[Image:Systembolaget innen.jpg|thumb|The traditional layout of a Systembolaget store, with counters where customers place their orders (June 2006). Today all stores use supermarket-style self-service.]]
[[Image:Sodertalje5.JPG|thumb|Self-service Systembolaget in Södertälje, Sweden. This is the normal layout of the Systembolaget stores since the 1990s.]]
There are several laws and rules governing how Systembolaget stores operate, such as:
* All products, including beer cans and bottles (except products that are not kept in stock and have to be pre-ordered), are sold individually. Pre-ordered products may sometimes only be sold in quantities corresponding with the minimum order accepted by the manufacturer. Some traditional Swedish shots are also sold in holiday packs.
* Discounts, such as "Buy 1, get 1 free" and "One can 20 kr two cans 30 kr" type deals, are prohibited.
* No product may be favoured over another, which in practice means that the beers are not [[refrigeration|refrigerated]], since otherwise all beer would have to be refrigerated which is too expensive.
* The minimum age to purchase beverages above 3.5% alcohol is 20 years of age. A main reason to have Systembolaget as a monopoly is to enforce this age limit. Several tests have shown that restaurants and food shops often sell 3.5% beer to people below the minimum legal age of 18.
* People who look under 25 have to show an [[identity document]]. This has to be certified identity cards or driving licenses from the Nordic countries, [[national identity card]] from an EU/EEA country or be a [[passport]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vanligafragor.systembolaget.se/org/systembolaget/d/vilka-id-handlingar-ar-godkanda-som-legitimation-p/ | title=Vilka ID-handlingar är godkända som legitimation på Systembolaget? - Vanliga frågor - Systembolaget AB }}</ref>
* Systembolaget is not allowed to sell [[alcoholic beverage]]s to drunk people or to people that they have reason to believe are purchasing for someone under legal age.
* In villages too small for a profitable Systembolaget shop and too far away from a shop, Systembolaget contracts food shops to sell alcohol. Such alcohol must be sold on demand and not on shelves among other food or beverages.
Systembolaget has a strict monopoly status on alcohol sales to consumers in Sweden, with the following exceptions:
* Restaurant and bars can sell alcohol for consumption on site, which customers are not permitted to take away from the premises (bottles are opened by staff). In other countries people are able to take a bottle of wine home if there is some left over at the end of their meal, but in Sweden it must be consumed or wasted.
* Private imports for a consumer's own consumption are allowed, based on EU regulations and court cases, both during private travel and by post.<ref name="EU comments">{{cite web |date=5 June 2007 |title=Swedish booze import ban 'wrong' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6722393.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817020322/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6722393.stm |archive-date=2007-08-17 |access-date=6 June 2007 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> However, Sweden is able to levy taxes on recipients of alcohol sent by post.
* Other companies (producers and importers) can sell directly to restaurant and bars (EU enforced rule).
* Producers of alcohol, such as vineyards, are not allowed to sell their products directly to consumers, but have the right to sell them through the nearest Systembolaget shops if they are not large enough for nationwide sales. This was a point of debate in the [[2022 Swedish general election|2022 election]], and the new government has proposed a law to allow such shops, which they plan to be in force during 2025.{{update after|2024}}<ref>[https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2024/06/regeringen-presenterar-forslag-om-gardsforsaljning-av-alkoholdrycker/ Regeringen presenterar förslag om gårdsförsäljning av alkoholdrycker]</ref>
* Export and [[duty-free shop]]s at airports can sell alcohol to people checked in for a flight outside the EU.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shopping |url=https://www.swedavia.com/arlanda/shopping/#Dutyfreeregulations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127125854/https://www.swedavia.com/arlanda/shopping/#Dutyfreeregulations |archive-date=2022-11-27 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Stockholm Arlanda Airport |publisher=[[Swedavia]]}}</ref> Alcohol cannot be sold in shops on boats on Swedish waters, but the shop is opened at the border to international or foreign waters.

As part of their accession to the European Union in 1995, Sweden and Finland are the only two EU member states granted an exception of free trade agreements allowing state-run alcohol monopolies.<ref>https://www.newsendip.com/alcohol-systembolaget-sweden/</ref>