Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

A product made from oats cannot be labelled “milk”, says Federal Supreme Court. In the court’s view, the term applies only to what comes from an animal’s udder. The case centred on an oat drink sold by Danone under its Alpro brand in Swiss supermarkets such as Migros and Coop. Its packaging reads “Shhh… this is not milk”, with the “i” replaced by a droplet. The cantonal laboratory in Zurich, which tests food for contaminants, checks whether products are correctly labelled and investigates misleading claims or packaging, deemed this misleading. Authorities argued that consumers might confuse the product with cow’s…

Switzerland’s ban on chlorothalonil will remain in force, according to a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court published on Thursday. Judges dismissed an appeal by Syngenta, which had challenged the prohibition of fungicides containing the substance. The ban dates back to December 2019, when the Federal Office for Agriculture withdrew approval for plant-protection products based on chlorothalonil. The decision, which took effect on January 1st 2020, meant that existing stocks could no longer be sold. The concern was that the chemical can break down into potentially harmful metabolites that seep into groundwater and drinking water. Syngenta argued that these degradation…

This week, the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched what it hopes will be its political campaign of the year: an initiative to cap the population at 10m. Voters will decide on June 14th. Both the Federal Council and parliament oppose the plan and offer no counter-proposal. The idea is straightforward: Switzerland’s population, currently about 9m, should not exceed 10m by 2050. The Swiss People’s Party argues that anything beyond that would strain infrastructure, schools, healthcare, electricity supply and welfare systems. According to official projections, Switzerland could reach 10m inhabitants as early as 2040. Once the population passes 9.5m, the government…

Scientists at CERN have achieved a first: they have transported antimatter in a truck across the laboratory’s main site. The result marks a step towards shipping antiprotons to other European research centres. The team behind the BASE experiment trapped 92 antiprotons in a portable cryogenic device known as a Penning trap, disconnected it from its host apparatus, loaded it onto a truck and resumed operations after the journey. That is no small feat. Antimatter annihilates on contact with ordinary matter, making it notoriously hard to store, let alone move. The demonstration is a trial run. The longer-term goal is to…

Foreign motorists passing through Switzerland without stopping may soon have to pay. This week, after the upper house, parliament also approved a proposal to introduce a transit toll, reported SRF. The move reflects growing concern about congestion on Switzerland’s trans-Alpine routes. Traffic through the Gotthard corridor regularly grinds to a halt on weekends and public holidays, with queues stretching for kilometres. The strain is felt not only by residents but also by fragile Alpine ecosystems. Previous attempts to curb traffic with tolls have failed to win support; this proposal however, has now cleared parliament and the Council of States, Switzerland’s…

Switzerland will no longer approve new licences for arms exports to the United States, reported SRF. The Federal Council announced the move on Friday in response to the American war against Iran. The government said its decision was guided by Switzerland’s neutrality and the War Materiel Act. For the duration of the conflict, it argued, exports of war materiel to countries involved could not be authorised. Existing licences remain valid for now. The Federal Council said they are not directly linked to the conflict. Nevertheless, an expert group drawn from the departments of economic affairs, foreign affairs and defence will…

The Federal Council has sent a package of agreements with the European Union to parliament, allowing lawmakers to begin debating a plan aimed at stabilising and developing Switzerland’s relations with the bloc. Presenting the proposal in Bern, Guy Parmelin, the president of the confederation, said the package was in Switzerland’s interest. Strengthening the bilateral approach, he argued, was the only way to preserve a balanced degree of political autonomy while maintaining close ties with the EU in economic, scientific and social fields. The government says a stable legal framework is essential. Without updating existing agreements, it argues, the bilateral relationship…

After an unusually mild spell, winter is set to return to Switzerland this weekend. Temperatures are expected to drop sharply—by about 10°C—between Friday night and Saturday, according to MétéoSuisse. Snow is also forecast to return, although the snowline and expected amounts remain uncertain. Spring had seemed to arrive early this year, with trees budding and daffodils already in bloom. But by Saturday afternoon temperatures in the lowlands may reach only 7–8°C. That would mark a sharp contrast with recent conditions, when several local records for late February were broken. On February 27th temperatures reached 20°C in Fahy and 17.6°C in…

After revelations that its mineral water had been filtered, Henniez can no longer use the activated-carbon filters that once removed traces of pesticides. The Swiss bottler, owned by Nestlé Waters, must now stop using part of the water from some springs and instead adjust the blend of remaining sources so that the final product complies with legal limits. The information comes from documents obtained by RTS after two years of transparency requests. In January 2024 it emerged that Henniez had filtered its so-called natural mineral water with activated carbon. Under Swiss law, mineral water must be naturally pure to carry…

Public-sector workers in Geneva have issued a strike notice for April 23rd in protest against expected cuts in the cantonal budget, reported RTS. On Thursday evening the general assembly of the Cartel Intersyndical, an umbrella group of unions, also approved plans for a demonstration a week earlier. The cantonal government is due to present a new draft budget at the end of March. A panel of experts had been asked to identify potential savings of CHF 500m. Some unions fear the cuts could be even deeper. In a resolution adopted unanimously, public-sector employees criticised what they describe as repeated forecasting…