Switzerland refuses to ban synthetic pesticides

AFP, Released Sunday, June 13, 2021 at 4:18 p.m.

The Swiss do not want to eliminate synthetic pesticides: they made it clear in Sunday’s referendum. However, despite UN warnings, they agreed to strengthen police counter-terrorism operations.

No major country has ever banned synthetic pesticides. Elsewhere in the world, Bhutan announced a few years ago that it wanted to become the first country in the world to earn a living from “100% organic” agriculture.

In Switzerland, voters on Sunday refused to enter their country – one of the largest manufacturers of plant protection products, Basel Group Cincinnati, which was acquired in 2017 by Chinese company Chemsena – along this path.

The final results of the vote will be known in the early hours of the morning. But according to the first official results, the ban ended in a “no” victory, with the majority of zones and populations setting aside two popular pesticide efforts.

According to the first official results, almost 63% rejected the first text saying that synthetic pesticides should be banned within 10 years, as well as any food produced abroad.

The ban was rejected in the hard-fought cities of Geneva and Freiburg, but remained in force in Basel.

Another attempt – by more than 63% – was to grant farmers Swiss federal subsidies only to farms that do not use pesticides, prohibit the use of preventive or conventional antibiotics, and to feed their animals with the fodder they produce.

Environmental activists and leftists supported both efforts, but voters wanted to follow the government, for whom a ban on synthetic pesticides would undermine the country’s food sovereignty.

– Terrorism and Human Rights –

More than 58% of voters voted in favor of the anti-terrorism police law, which made it much easier for the police to act as a deterrent to confronting a “terrorist”.

Police can better monitor them from the age of 12, limit their movements and force them to participate in interviews. From the age of 15, with the consent of the court, people can be placed under house arrest for nine months.

Left-wing opponents of the law believe it does not respect fundamental rights and human rights, endangering the country’s heritage in the region. The UN and many legal experts and human rights defenders also cried out in danger.

“Switzerland now has the lowest professional, ineffective and dangerous anti-terrorism law in the world – which is a major embarrassment to Switzerland in terms of law,” the UN said. The reporter told AFP about the torture of Niles Melser after the vote.

“Through this law, Switzerland provides a precise definition of terrorism, which opens the door to police arbitrariness. Spreading fears with political intent is already considered terrorism, even if no threat of violent action has been taken. Established, or guaranteed no criminal offense” Lamented.

The government ensures that fundamental rights are guaranteed and argues that radicalization programs are not enough for some.

Although Switzerland has been saved from jihadi attacks on Europe, the threat remains “high,” officials said, arguing that “two knife attacks in Morgas and Lugano in 2020, + may have taken place with terrorist motives.”

– CO2 and Covid –

However, the Swiss have not reviewed legislation aimed at further reducing CO2 emissions by 2030.

In particular, the law provides for an increase in taxes on fuel oil and natural gas and the introduction of a tax on air tickets departing from Switzerland.

“In the future we need to take advantage of other climate tools. Rather than targeting end consumers, manufacturers need to force innovations, for example through more stringent requirements,” Greens’ Twitter responds to Adele Thorne.

Another text that voted, the Govt law, gave the government additional powers to fight the epidemic and mitigate its effects on society and the economy, gaining 59% support in Switzerland.