10 December 2012 No 51 ISSN 1664-7963 Current Concerns PO Box CH-8044 Zurich Current Concerns Switzerland The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, Phone: +41 44 350 65 50 Fax: +41 44 350 65 51 and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.currentconcerns.ch English Edition of Zeit-Fragen “Maintaining productivity at today’s level of self-sufficiency of at least net 54 percent” “Feeding the population reasonably on the basis of family farming” Interview with National Councillor Markus Ritter, CVP SG, president of the Swiss Farmers’ Association thk. On 12 De- What are the priorities of the new Agri- cember, the sec- cultural Policy? Art. 104 Agriculture ond chamber It includes an increased focus on the ob- 1The Confederation shall ensure that agri- of Parliament, jectives of our Constitution. The basic cultural sector, by means of a sustainable the Council of idea is that each constitutional objective and market oriented production policy, States, discussed is converted into concrete actions and ap- makes an essential contribution towards: the bill on Ag- propriate instruments using an appropri- a. the reliable provision of the population with foodstuffs; ricultural Poli- ate incentive process. The result is that the b. the conservation of natural resources cy 2014 to 2017. constitutional objectives, security of sup- and the upkeep of the countryside; After the Na- ply and maintenance of the countryside as c. decentralised population settlement of tional Council well as the whole range of environmental the country. already made services as decentralized settlement can 2In addition to the self-help measures National Councillor some changes, it be promoted. that can reasonably be expected in the Markus Ritter, CVP SG, is now the Coun- agriculture sector and if necessary in der- President of Swiss cil of States’ task Does the Federal Council’s proposal to ogation from the principle of economic Farmers’ Asociation. freedom, the Confederation shall sup- (picture thk) to submit their provide more area-based payments get concerns and closer to the constitutional objective of port farms that cultivate the land. 3The Confederation shall organise meas- suggestions. Particularly controversial is security of supply? ures in such a manner that the agricultur- Article 72, which regulates the supply secu- The Federal Council has established a di- al sector fulfils its multi-functional duties. rity contributions on grassland. National verse work group for the further develop- It has in particular the following powers Councillor Markus Ritter, recently elected ment of the direct payment system. De- and duties: president of the Swiss Farmers’ Associa- pending on the perspective or order, these a. supplementing revenues from agri- tion and therefore successor to National people have joined the working group culture by means of direct subsidies in Councillor Hansjörg Walter, explains in with different ideas and objectives. Of order to achieve of fair and adequate the following interview what kinds of prob- course, the different emphasis on the Con- remuneration for the services provid- lems and why arise from this bill. stitution also led to different opinions: ed, subject to proof of compliance with ecological requirements. How much security of supply, how much b. encouraging by means of economi- How did the bill Agricultural Policy for ecology, how should the cultivation of the cally advantageous incentives meth- 2014–2017 come about, and what is to be landscape be weighted and what means it ods of production that are specifical- laid down in the new Agriculture Act? should be equipped with. This fundamen- ly near-natural and respectful of both Agricultural policy in Switzerland is based tal debate has continued to this day in Par- the environment and livestock. on the Federal Constitution, Article 104. In liament. This becomes evident in the vari- c. legislating on declarations of origin, 1996 the Swiss approved of this article by ous applications that have been identified quality, production methods and pro- 77 percent. On this basis, the 1999 Agri- during previous consultations. cessing procedures for foodstuffs. culture Act in its present form was adopt- d. protecting the environment against ed in principle by the Parliament. The cur- Does Agricultural Policy for 2014–2017 the detrimental effects of the exces- sive use of fertilisers, chemicals and rent revision of the act happens within the provide the right answers to the challeng- other auxiliary agents. context of a motion for Agricultural Policy es of the years to come? e. at its discretion, encouraging agricul- 2011 by the Council of States, in which the It is crucial that the demands on the ag- tural research, counselling and educa- Council of States demanded to revise the ricultural policies are now vehemently tion and subsidise investments. law and submit a report saying whether the determined from outside. The situation *Withf. at its discretion, legislating on agricultural policy in Switzerland should regarding the supply and food securi- the consolidation of agricultural proper- not be aligned more closely with the Con- ty in view of the very rapidly growing ty holdings. 4 stitution. Subsequently, the Federal Council world population – every year about 80 For these purposes, the Confeder- submitted a report on the further develop- million –, with the increasing scarci- ation shall provide both funds ear- marked for the agricultural sector and ment of the direct payment system. Parlia- ty of fresh water, with large-scale floods general federal funds. ment could discuss and take note of this and droughts does show the world that a Source: www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/1/101. report. Based on these proceeings, the Ag- greater importance should be attached to en.pdf ricultural Policy for 2014–2017(AP 14-17) the security of supply. In the last three to was adopted by the Federal Council with a message to Parliament. continued on page 2 No 51 10 December 2012 Current Concerns Page 2 ”‘Maintaining productivity at …’” ly in Central Switzerland, and 1,400 hec- Of course we have a whole range of continued from page 1 tares, mainly in the mountain areas, face proposals that have been approved in four years there has been a correspond- increasing reforestation. This side marked the Council of States by the Commit- ing shift in focus. In this context it is im- a clear loss of productive land. The second tee; moreover, there are proposals, but portant to attach greater importance to the point is that with incentives for extensive they are minorities in Parliament; and of producing agriculture and thus the securi- agriculture productivity will be reduced course there are also individual proposals. ty of supply. With respect to the ecologi- with the overall effect that our self-suffi- We will have to converse with individual cal achievements Switzerland, which has ciency continues to decline. We are now Councillors of States and present them our some 120,000 hectares of ecological com- close to 50 percent, and if we remember arguments, and then keep the debate run- pensation area with a total area of 1 mil- that the Swiss population is growing, this ning in the Council of States. lion hectares of arable land, has already means a further deterioration of the busi- reached a very large expansion. Increas- ness location Switzerland in times of cri- Which issues would be important there? ing the quality and networking are the sis, especially when the international de- Article 9 includes an extension of the only things that can be done here. There- velopments increase the way they do. A competence of the Federal Council con- fore, we must lead the discussions with the full-time supply of the population with cerning the general applications. This is partners. food belongs to a country’s security, how- important especially in our asymmetric ever. markets, where many producers are fac- Where are the sensitive issues in the Ag- ing fewer buyers. For us Article 54 is also ricultural Policy for 2014–2017 for pro- The self-supply of our country seems to important because it includes that the feed ductive agriculture, which we ought to me a very important point. This is also a grain is promoted; here we want to set the continue expanding according to your requirement of the World Agriculture Re- tone for a local food base. In Article 72 is statement? port, to which Swiss scientists have con- important that the land contributions are The implementation – and this is my crit- tributed significantly. In the long term, subject to a slightly stronger production. icism – will cause a significant amount the small-scale, regionally based and co- And that Parliament confirms the propos- of administrative work, as many of the operatively organized agriculture on fam- als of the National Council and the CEAT new instruments, which are to be intro- ily farms are a solution to the world hun- in the global credit. duced, will require appropriate planning ger problem, the report says. To what It is crucial that our agriculture produc- and controls prior to their implementa- extent these findings of the World Agricul- es sustainably and that it grows. We pro- tion, right down to the cantonal and op- ture Report are taken into account in the duce in an integrated manner; we only use erational level. We are also concerned Agricultural Policy for 2014–2017? as many adjuvants as necessary. Ecolog- that the strong focus of direct payments It is one of the positive developments as- ical performance requires this standard on the surface will exacerbate the market sociated with the Agricultural Policy for today. It is also true that good seeds on fer- with respect to the leased land with high- 2014–2017 that the food sovereignty has tile soils with a healthy water supply and er rents.