Government says no to food initiative (cross-border guide)

Context

In a nutshell The Federal Council has rejected the popular initiative on food. The requests made by the initiative have been judged excessive and unfeasible. ## Key Facts Food Initiative: What: request to increase the degree of net self-sufficiency to 70% within ten years. When: next 27 September. Where: Switzerland. Who: people. Amount: none specified. Federal Council: What: rejected the initiative. When: Tuesday. Where: Bern. Who: Guy Parmelin Amount: None Specified Initiative requests: What: increase the degree of net self-sufficiency to 70% within ten years. When: Within ten years. Where: Switzerland. Who: people. Amount: None specified. The Federal Council announced on Tuesday that it has rejected the popular initiative on food. The initiative, on which the people are called to pronounce on September 27, calls for at least 70% of the food consumed in Switzerland to be produced within the country in the future. Agriculture should therefore be more oriented towards the production of food of plant origin and, at the same time, reduce the use of plant protection products and fertilizers. "Switzerland cannot increase its self-sufficiency by 70% within ten years, it is an excessive and unachievable demand," said Guy Parmelin, President of the Federal Council. ## Comparisons between practical scenarios If Switzerland increases self-sufficiency by 70% within ten years, it could reduce dependence on food imports and protect the environment * If Switzerland does not increase self-sufficiency by 70% within ten years, it could increase dependence on food imports and harm the environment

Operational details

Government says no to food initiative

The Federal Council has expressed its opinion on the popular initiative "Healthy Foods for a Healthy Life" which aims to reduce the use of plant protection products and fertilizers in Switzerland within ten years. The Government stated that the demands of the initiative are excessive and unfeasible, stressing that the production of food of plant origin and the reduction of the use of plant protection products and fertilizers are important objectives, but that it is not possible to achieve them within ten years.

Switzerland is already a classic leader in the production of organic food products. In 2022, 14.6% of total agricultural production was classified as organic. In addition, 71% of Swiss citizens consume at least one organic food product per day. However, the Government stressed that further federal financial support would be needed to make the transition socially sustainable, which would entail considerable additional costs for the Confederation.

According to the Government's calculations, the implementation of the initiative would require an investment of about 3.5 billion Swiss francs within the next ten years. This amount would correspond to about 10% of the annual federal budget. In addition, the Government stressed that reducing the use of plant protection products and fertilisers would entail additional costs for farmers, which should be covered

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Key points

Government says no to food initiative

The popular initiative on food was rejected by the Federal Council. This means that the requests made by the initiative will not be implemented. However, the Federal Council announced that it is working on gradual and achievable interventions to strengthen long-term food security and further reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and the food supply chain.

According to the Federal Council, the initiative did not comply with existing food policy regulations. Switzerland has already implemented measures to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and the food supply chain, such as the legislation on agricultural biodiversity, introduced in 2017. This legislation obliges farmers to maintain a certain percentage of areas cultivated with non-intensive crops, such as cereal crops or vegetable crops.

The Federal Council has announced that it is working on an action plan to strengthen food security in the long term. This plan provides for the creation of a food security fund, which will be financed with an annual contribution of 10 million Swiss francs. The fund will be used to finance research and development projects for food safety, such as the creation of food quality monitoring systems.

In addition, the Federal Council has

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Source: rsi.ch