THC can’t go higher than 1% under new law
Switzerland voted against legalizing marijuana in 2008, and French-speaking cantons, some of which take a stricter approach to the drug, then drew up new regulations for overseeing legal growing and sales
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Six of Switzerland’s French-speaking cantons have a law as of 27 March covering the agricultural product cannabis, as distinguished from the popular drug marijuana, largely to give police a clearer framework for going after illegal use of the plant.
Farmers can grow cannabis as long as there is a written contract to buy and develop the plants, if there are more than five plants. Merchants can sell products as long as they have legitimate sales licenses.
Hemp, for example, is made from a variety of cannabis that has less than 1 percent THC, the psycho-active compound that gives a high to drug users. Marijuana for popular drug use generally has 3-20 percent THC.
Vaud police, in announcing the news, point out that marijuana consumption remains illegal.
President, head of bankers’ association, say road ahead rough for bank competivity
Swiss President and Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss financial industry is facing tough times which are not likely to soon be easier, two financial leaders said at separate press conferences Thursday.
Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Sclumpf, who is also the country’s finance minister, met with journalists 12 January in Geneva to talk about the future, but the press conference not surprisingly turned to her hectic first 12 days in office.
The Swiss National Bank’s chairman resigned following a scandal, parliament moved into its new session, tax treaty talks with the US are back on the agenda after a holiday break and diplomatic posts were assigned as new ambassadors, including the European Union one, arrived to present their papers.
The financial sector will be a 2012 priority for the government
Widmer-Schlumpf says one of her top priorities is to ensure the stability and sound reputation of the financial sector. The resignation Monday of Philipp Hildebrand as central banker also left Switzerland without its important seat on the Financial Stability Board, an international body of key central bankers who have great influence over world financial policy.
Germany and the UK initialed tax treaties with Switzerland in 2011, as did several other countries (Uruguay and Taiwan in the past two weeks), and one is under discussion with Italy. The European Union opposes such bilateral agreements and has threatened to fight them. The Swiss president said Thursday that Switzerland is ready to review some of the technical issues.
US tax treaty talks: main points sorted out, more discussion needed
The most difficult discussions may be those with the US. Little information has come from either side about the status of the talks, but Widmer-Schlumpf said today that while the main points have been sorted out more discussions are needed. She qualified the talks today: “They are not easy partners, we know that, but still they are constructive.” She added that she hopes the situation can be resolved while respecting Swiss law.
The US Department of Justice is currently investigating 11 Swiss banks for possibly helping wealthy Americans in the US hide money from the IRS (tax arm) and it appears the US is putting pressure on Swiss banks in other ways, with the latest twist reportedly, according to some Swiss media, a demand for the names of all Swiss bankers who have had dealings with US citizens.
The tax talks are taking place in parallel with another Swiss-US set of negotiations, over American requests for access to Swiss police records as part of the US fight against terrorism.
Private bankers and clients face “tsunami of regulations”
Meanwhile, in Bern, the Swiss Privates Bankers Association held its annual day with the press, where President Nicolas Pictet noted that the financial industry in general and wealth management in particular are facing a “tsunami of regulations” that will increase costs and create a number of problems. Penalizing the entire profession “for the mistakes of a few” must come to an end, he argues. “We must stop making it impossible for clients to have room to breathe” – they are the first to suffer when an excess of regulations exists, with the pretext of protecting them.
Pictet did not comment on the specifics of the bank cases under review by the US. He emphasized, however, that while Swiss banks, like any other, must respect the laws of the countries in which they operate, “applying these outside a country is an unacceptable threat for a small export nation” such as Switzerland.
He was echoing concerns voiced by Widmer-Schlumpf 31 December, on the eve of her presidency, who in a radio interview offered a reminder that while banks the Swiss banks embroiled in problems with the US have not broken any Swiss laws, nor committed any moral wrong-doing, those that have broken US law will have to deal with the consequences of that. Part of discussions between the two countries involves clarifying the legal situation.
Swiss forests (here, Bern) are an economic and environmental priority, but poor wood-burning stoves could counteract forestry efforts
BERN, SWITZERLAND – More than 15 percent of fine particles, those minuscule bits of dust that are harmful to health, come from wood-burning stoves, the Swiss federal government now says, twice the amount shown by earlier research.
Reducing the quantity is a public health priority, with the popularity of home fireplaces growing, but an changes to regulations need to be aligned with an economic and environmental priority, to better develop and exploit Swiss forests.
The amount of wood burned for fuel is on the rise in Switzerland, according to Swiss energy officials, and it is likely to continue to go up if fossil fuel prices rise.
Switzerland is closely watching the example of Germany, which recently tightened its laws for wood as an energy source. It lowered the acceptable limits for home fireplaces, including existing ones.
Pilot projects have been started in some Swiss cantons in an effort to find better tools for measuring home fire emissions.
Burn dry wood in a correctly installed and properly functioning fireplace, for your health
A group meeting in Bern this week concluded that there is a huge difference, in terms of health and air pollution, between good home fireplaces and those that don’t meet today’s standards. Quality is directly linked to proper installation, the group says, as well as correct use and burning the right materials.
The question is of growing importance because the number of automatic wood-burning stoves has tripled and the number of manual home wood-burning stoves (poeles) has doubled in the past 15 years according to the Swiss Energy Office.
Swiss authorities, researchers, firms and cantonal officials, many of them with Cercl’Air, met 8-9 November to discuss the effectiveness of air filters on home fireplaces and to review Swiss regulations governing small wood-burning units.
Switzerland’s law requiring certification for home fireplaces went into effect in 2007, but the implementation has been phased in, through 2012.
Cercl’Air is a group that brings together corporate and governmental Swiss air quality managers.
Today’s filters function mainly with electrostatic separation, but this works only if the fireplace is correctly installed and functioning properly. Studies are showing that a large number of wood-burning systems of medium- and large-size are not correctly installed, and these will be targeted to reduce fine particles in the short term.
More problematic are smaller units, under 70 kW, whose emissions are currently measured visually in most cantons to ensure, for example, that only dry wood and not household waste is being burned. But this approach is inadequate with older fireplaces that are not up to current standards.
Meanwhile, the Energy Office provides tips for anyone using wood for fuel, including avoiding creating too much soot through:
- proper ventilation in the fireplace
- using only dry wood
- lighting the fire properly
- avoiding using too much wood.
Federal Energy Office brochure on using wood-burning fires correctly (Fr, PDF)
Former ICRC head Cornelio Sommaruga (1987-99) with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, guests of the Foreign Press Association in Geneva (photo: ©2011 Song Bin)
Update 24 May GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The caution that often typifies Swiss politicians’ speech disappeared for a moment Friday night when Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, asked if Switzerland would like to become a member of the European Union, said bluntly and for the first time, according to local journalists, “I have to say no; the majority is not in favour of it.”
The Swiss voted against joining the EU in 1992, but the two have grown closer in the past 20 years, mainly through a web of more than 120 bilateral agreements.
Ed.note: The Swiss “Security report 2011″ published 24 May confirms the president’s point, showing only 19 percent of Swiss backed the idea of joining the EU, in 2011.
EU, Swiss grow closer, want simpler system for agreements, but Swiss will remain outside group
She was fielding questions 20 May during the annual presidential dinner hosted in Geneva by the Foreign Press Association. She had touched on the growing ties between Switzerland and the EU when the question came up.
“Issues are dealt with through bilateral channels”, she noted, without referring directly to 2010 tensions, when EU leaders called for a review of the situation, saying the hefty number of bilateral agreements was becoming unwieldy, just as Switzerland was asking for a third round of negotiations to begin.
“Swiss laws are influenced by EU laws. And the EU says we must take into consideration future European law; we’re discussing it.” Calmy-Rey’s remark Friday night appeared to confirm comments made in February by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso after he met with her. Barroso said at the time that they agreed the system needs to be streamlined, simplified.
Swiss regulations increasingly in line with European
Swiss President Calmy-Rey with EC President José Barroso, February 2011
Switzerland is increasingly adapting regulations and laws to match European-wide ones. Bern announced Friday that importing cars from the EU is likely to become easier soon, for example, with Switzerland preparing to accept European certificates of road-worthiness. It plans to adopt EU standards for fixed child seats and dusk lights on new cars.
Sticky tax issues could have solution “soon”
Asked to elaborate on comments made Thursday in Bern about tax discussions with Britain and Germany, she said “We hope to have solutions soon.”
Calmy-Rey, who is also Switzerland’s foreign minister, met this week with Germany’s foreign minister Guido Westerwelle. Thursday, after their working meetings, she said that “with the withholding tax model, a constructive solution has been found that protects the interests of both sides” and that they hope to finalize an agreement before the summer parliamentary breaks.
Germany and other European countries, notably France and the UK, are seeking ways to collect tax from their citizens’ holdings in Switzerland.
The tax arguments also include accusations by Switzerland’s neighbours that some cantons are offering tax deals to foreigners that smack of illegal subsidies.
IMF job not likely to go to a Swiss
The president laughed at what she called the expected question when the director’s job at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) was mentioned, saying that Switzerland is “realistic enough” to know its chances of putting its candidate in the job are slim.
Calmy-Rey told the group of journalists she is not unhappy with coverage of Switzerland by foreign media, but she wishes that in addition to chocolate and cows they would write more about innovation and research in Switzerland, two areas where the country excels.
Murphy TV, 1951, at Science Museum in London, England
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland is extending tougher energy regulations to more home appliances, including television sets, and to fluorescent lighting and public lighting. The country’s energy label will be aligned with that of the European Union at the same time, Bern announced Friday 6 May.
The government has opened a public hearing on the new standards, with comments accepted until July 2011. Revisions to existing standards, to be finalized later in the year, will take these into consideration.
Switzerland previously tightened regulations for refrigerators and washing machines, in June 2009, but this will now cover a larger group of appliances to ensure they are more energy efficient, in part because of technical progress. These improvements have pushed most appliances into category A, up until now the label showing the highest level of energy efficiency. The EU has decided to create three additional categories, A+, A++ and A+++, to distinguish degrees of energy efficiency among appliances.
Switzerland will adopt the same standards. It will also realign the application of the standards, which are expected to go into effect in January 2012, to European law: in Switzerland, regulations apply to imports and manufacturing, but not at the sales point, whereas in Europe, energy efficient standards for home appliances apply also at the point of sale.
For a trip into the past, with TV sets: a history of television
Where to put the bottles, in the bag or on the plane: mix of rules after 29 April
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Aviation Office will not change current policy covering what liquids airline passengers may carry on board, it announced Thursday 21 April.
Some European Union countries are easing their policies, the Swiss office notes, but Switzerland, after reviewing the situation, will maintain current regulations.
The decision means that passengers transfering through Switzerland, who have boarded in a country where more liquids, purchased in duty free zones, are allowed on board, will not be able to board in Switzerland with those liquids.
Switzerland reviewed its regulations for security risks following a decision by the European Union to allow passengers, starting 29 April, to carry on board more than 100cc (1dl) of liquids purchased in airport duty free zones. Its decision not to follow the EU change follows similar decisions by France, Italy and the UK to maintain their tighter security restrictions.
The recent differing decisions means that passengers will be faced with a patchwork of regulations covering what liquids may or may not be taken onto a plane. Switzerland will allow passengers who have purchased liquids on board a plane from the following countries to take them on board when transferring: from the EU, US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Norway, Iceland and Croatia.
The decision comes just days after the expected announcement that passengers will be able to buy duty free goods on arrival, and not just departure, from Swiss airports.
US boats are taking on board fewer passengers thanks to new regulations that went into effect at the end of March, which reflect the heftier size of Americans. The US Coast Guard has adapted boat safety regulations that specify how many passengers a boat can carry, based on weight, according to the Federal Register.
They apply to commercial but not private passenger vehicles on water.
The new Assumed Average Weight per Person has gone up by more than 9 percent, from 160 pounds to 185 (73 kg to 84 kg), the first change to the weight and safety rules by the Coast Guard since 1960.
Links to other sites: AP, National Public Radio, US Coast Guard fact sheet
Japan’s latest worries in the post-quake period concern the safety of drinking water and possible food contamination, with authorities in Tokyo recommending Wednesday 23 March that parents not give their children tap water to drink. Measurements taken showed the level to be above that considered safe for infants and children.
Scientists have taken up the debate over food and drink safety, comparing measured levels and health regulations on radiation. Science Now points to several factors that have an impact on the extent of the danger, such as the quantity ingested and the period of time during which a food product is consumed. Spinach has particularly high levels, it says, because the broad leaves pick up more radiation.
The Japanese government’s recommendations are a wise move, say several scientists, but there is little reason to panic. The Guardian quotes environmental physicist Jim Smith as saying that “Following the finding of up to 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine in tap water in Tokyo, the recommendation that infants are not given tap water is a sensible precaution. But it should be emphasised that the limit is set at a low level to ensure that consumption at that level is safe over a fairly long period of time.”
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss voters are turning in their ballots to decide on tightening regulations covering firearms. Many of them are doing so Friday using local commune’s special ballot boxes before they head for the mountains, rather than turning up in person to vote Sunday 13 February.
The popular referendum is supported by Socialists and Greens but no other major parties, nor does the federal government back it. The “initiative” as referendums are called, calls for a national gun registry to replace the current cantonal registries, and for military guns to be kept centrally, rather than in homes.
International media are turning the spotlight on the vote as Sunday draws nearer, often (incorrectly) drawing a parallel with US arms discussions: the Swiss debate is not over the right to bear arms, but the responsibility that goes with bearing them. The Swiss militia obligation for citizens to have firearms is accompanied by the legal obligation to practice shooting regularly.
The vote would not change this obligation, both to bear arms and to use them responsibly, but it would shift how information about gun-owners is kept and where the firearms reside.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss banks will have tougher capital requirements for trading, known as the Capital Adeqacy Ordinance, starting 1 January 2011, a year ahead of the rest of the world, the Swiss Federal Council (cabinet) announced Wednesday 10 November. New capital requirements have been drawn up by the Basel Committee of central bankers, known as Basel III, but the committee delayed the implementation deadline under pressure from countries. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Gleisner and the European Commission’s internal market commissioner Michel Barnier agreed in October 2010 to a December 2011 deadline for the new trading book rules.
Switzerland has already taken a number of protective steps in the wake of the December 2008 bailout of UBS, the country’s largest bank: higher overall capital requirements and tougher rules on liquidity were adopted for the country’s big banks in October 2010. New rules also created restrictions on bankers’ pay and a cap on the leverage ratio.
The Federal Council noted in its press release on the decision that “the financial crisis made it quite clear that the risks of loss attached to trading activity and securitization were underpinned by insufficient capital levels.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal government Wednesday 27 May agreed to revise the laws and regulations covering asylum, despite objections from several quarters on many of the revisions under discussion.
The Federal Council noted in its statement that to remain credible in this area, Switzerland must speed up and simplify the current system. At the same time, Switzerland must ensure it is less attractive to people who abuse the asylum system.
One of the hot issues is the return of those whose requests have been rejected. The death of a Nigerian at the Zurich airport earlier in 2010 prompted the government to call a halt to return flights, but these are gradually being started again.
Related story: Swiss migration boss stirs up refugee debate
New rules from Basel for banks worldwide
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Central bank governors, meeting in Basel Sunday 10 January, “welcome the substantial progress” made by the Basel Committees on Banking Supervision (BCBS), they said in a press release issued Monday. The group has charged the BCBS to come up with details rules, a set of tougher standards for banks, by the end of 2010, in response to the global banking crisis of 2008-2009. The standards would affect banks worldwide.
The new regulations were outlined in a report by the Committee in mid-December 2009.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Chairman Oswald Gruebel of UBS reportedly told a group of business leaders at a private luncheon Friday that if demands on UBS become too tough, the bank would consider locating outside Switzerland. Gruebel is said to have been referring to the possibility that Swiss banking authorities could insist the country’s two big banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, reorganize as holding companies.
The news was reported by Sonntag 29 November. Journalists were not invited to the meeting and UBS has not commented on the report.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland has adapted its laws for travelers crossing the Swiss border to reflect new needs with the A(H1N1) swine flu spreading. The new rules go into effect 1 July.
