The newspaper “Schweizer Bauer” speaks of the “strengthening of local production” and the “fight against food waste”. What is meant is that cheap imported vegetables should be kept away from Swiss retailers for longer. Ironically, in times of high inflation, consumers should pay more.
Do Swiss tomatoes need more protection against cheaper imports?
In January it’s tomatoes from Spain that shine red on retail shelves. But as soon as the tomatoes in this country are ripe, Switzerland will raise its customs walls. The cheap competition from southern Europe is then no longer welcome.
Border protection is by far the most important instrument for promoting local agriculture. The price difference is paid by the consumers. the Avenir Suisse think tank calculated for 2018 that the border guards would incur annual additional costs of CHF 830 per year for a Swiss household.
More protection for twenty varieties
If the Council of States has its way, consumers will be asked to pay even more in the future. In December he approved a motion by Werner Salzmann (svp, BE). It lists 16 types of vegetables for which border protection is to be expanded. A new protection system is to be introduced for another four varieties such as Romanesco. Border protection should only be relaxed slightly for seven vegetables.
In Switzerland, there is an exact one for most vegetables planning. Cherry tomatoes, for example, can be imported cheaply until April 30th. After that, high protective tariffs apply so that Swiss tomatoes have a chance in the shops.
Technical advances and climate change have changed crop production, argues Salzmann in his proposal. Therefore, the protection periods should be extended. As an argument, he also draws the “Food Waste” card. The following story serves to do this: In 2021, tomatoes from domestic production should have been destroyed because they were ripe before the customs barrier was up.
At the time, retail buyers apparently preferred to offer their customers cheap imported tomatoes. How big the price difference would have been is not known. According to the Federal Council the prices for fruit and vegetables in Switzerland are on average 42 percent higher than the EU level. Incidentally, it is no coincidence that Werner Salzmann is campaigning for vegetable farmers: the Bernese Council of States is President of the Association of Swiss Vegetable Producers.
Migros defends itself
The trade is not very enthusiastic about this promotion of domestic vegetable production. Migros writes that the measure is unnecessary because no sector of Swiss agriculture has developed better in recent years than vegetable growing. In fact, the industry was able to increase its acreage by 65 percent within 30 years.
Migros also emphasizes that the current border protection system has been balanced and tested. She fears that the prices for Swiss vegetables could even tumble in the summer if production is boosted in this way. Most vegetables are ripe in July and August, but at the same time demand is at its lowest precisely then because people are on vacation or harvesting vegetables from their own gardens. Even so, Swiss tomatoes could end up directly in the organic waste bin. Migros also sees the variety of vegetables at risk if the international range is restricted.
The Federal Council has also spoken out against the wishes of vegetable producers. He wants to tackle the issue of food waste differently. Next, the National Council will now bend over the import duties for vegetables. However, he probably does not have the last word. The Swiss border protection for agricultural products is based on an agreement with the World Trade Organization WTO. Changes to the regime must be coordinated with this.
The cheap tomatoes from Spain should therefore still find room on the shelves for a while – at least in the cooler months of the year.