No declaration of imported vegetables, fish and co.
Published: Friday, Jun 28th 2024, 17:20
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Following loud criticism during the consultation process, the National Council committee responsible wants to drop the planned declaration obligation for unprocessed foodstuffs flown in. It now believes that the bill is not suitable for achieving the sustainability goals.
The Science, Education and Culture Committee of the National Council (WBK-N) decided by 15 votes to 8 with one abstention not to vote on the bill, as reported by the parliamentary services on Friday. The next decision will be made by the upper chamber.
The bill is based on a parliamentary initiative by National Councillor Christine Badertscher (Greens/BE). It demands that the mode of transportation of unprocessed imported foodstuffs such as fish or meat must be declared. The declaration should include air transportation to Switzerland. The aim is greater transparency for consumers and more sustainable consumption.
Associations and political parties were divided in the consultation on a corresponding amendment to the Foodstuffs Act (LMG). After analyzing the comments, the WBK-N's scepticism now prevailed. Instead, it prefers a voluntary, self-regulating declaration by the industry, as it wrote.
The Commission also pointed out that the indication of origin on the packaging already gives an indication of the mode of transportation and that the new declaration obligation would entail additional work and costs for the food industry. The major retailers in Switzerland had already introduced a voluntary declaration. Some are already doing away with air transportation altogether.
A minority of the Commission does not wish to write off the parliamentary initiative. It considers the declaration of air transportation to be a reasonable effort for the food industry and a great help in consumers' purchasing decisions.
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