Swiss Review 4/2018

11 Swiss Review / July 2018 / No.4 JÜRG MÜLLER Agricultural policy is one of the most contentious and emotive areas of Swiss politics. Agricultural issues and the interests of society as a whole often conflict irreconcilably. Two popular initiatives from the left and ecological end of the political spec- trum have now been added to the al- ready charged debate on the future of Swiss agriculture. Both proposals will be put to the Swiss people on 23 September 2018. A year earlier, on 24 September 2017, almost 79% of the Swiss people voted in favour of the counterpro- posal to a popular initiative put for- ward by the Swiss Farmers’ Union. The principles on food safety have since been enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The main points are: safeguarding the basis of production, in particular farmland, resource-ef- ficient food production adapted to the location, and an agricultural and food sector aligned with the market. It also aims to put a stop to foodwaste. The previous bill contained issues covered by the two initiatives now under discussion – fair food and food sovereignty. To some degree, there are overlapping elements in all three initiatives. Calls for the two initia- tives still pending to be withdrawn proved to be in vain. “Healthy, environmentally friendly and fair” The Greens’ “For healthy, environ- mentally-friendly food fairly pro- duced” initiative (Fair Food Initia- tive) calls for environmental and social standards to be applied to im- ported products. The authors of the initiative argue that the high animal welfare requirements in Switzerland fail to prevent imported meat and eggs from factory farms reaching re- tail shelves. “Scandalous working conditions” are widespread, even in Europe. Industrial farming is putting pressure on prices worldwide due to free trade, whichmakes it difficult to provide fair salaries. The initiative therefore calls for federal government to tighten the general requirements on high-qual- ity food. Legislation should ensure that food is produced in an environ- mentally-friendly, resource-efficient and animal-friendly way and under fair working conditions. Imported agricultural products must meet these requirements. Federal govern- ment should favour imported fair trade produce. It should issue provi- sions on the authorisation of food and animal fodder and on the decla- ration of production and processing methods. Federal government could also increase import duties. Further- more, the processing and marketing of regional and seasonally produced food should be promoted and food waste stopped. As is often the case, the Federal Council supports these concerns “in principle”. However, national govern- ment primarily sees problems with implementation. New, time-consum- ing and expensive controls would be required to check that imported ag- ricultural goods actually meet the in- itiative’s requirements. It could also result in trade policy conflicts. The popular initiative is simply irrecon- Ecological and socially minded or just dangerous? Precisely a year after the referendum on food safety, the Swiss people will vote on the issue of food again on 23 September 2018. Two popular initiatives concerning food production will be decided on. Focus on farming: The potato harvest in Kerzers, canton of Fribourg Photo: Keystone