Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office

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Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO
"Corporate Design Federation" - logo of the federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation
Headquarters Liebefeld SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Chief Hans Wyss
Employees about 250
At sight Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA
Website www.blv.admin.ch

The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO ) ( French Office fédéral de la sécurité alimentaire et des affaires vétérinaires (OSAV) , Italian Ufficio federale della sicurezza alimentare e di veterinaria (USAV) , Rhaeto-Romanic Uffizi veterinars da segirezza alimentara eVgs) ) is a federal authority of the Swiss Confederation . It is Switzerland's center of excellence for food safety, nutrition, animal health, animal welfare and species protection in international trade. The FSVO is part of the Federal Department of Home Affairs .

history

Receipt of the then FVO (2007)

In 1872 the Federal Council set up a cattle disease police department . The head was the federal cattle disease commissioner, who also served as chief horse doctor for the army.

In 1886 the cattle disease police department was given responsibility for the animal disease police at the state border. To fulfill this task, the Federal Council created a border veterinary service. The ordinance issued by the Federal Council in 1909 on the examination of import consignments of meat and meat products stipulated that the border veterinarian must examine animals, meat and meat products not only in terms of health protection, but also in terms of protection against fraud.

On November 14, 1914, the Federal Council converted the cattle disease police department into a fully-fledged federal office. The new office, which was then called the Swiss Veterinary Office , was filled with eight posts. Between 1979 and 2013 the office was called the Federal Veterinary Office .

When the Swiss Veterinary Office was founded in 1914, rinderpest and pulmonary disease in cattle had already been contained, and snot and rabies in domestic animals were significantly reduced . However, there were major problems with foot and mouth disease , which became more dangerous due to the increasing international and domestic traffic in animals and animal products. A new Animal Disease Act passed in 1917 provided the tools to combat foot-and-mouth disease in advance. But it was only the mandatory vaccination of the entire cattle herd from 1966 that brought victory over this dreaded scourge of agriculture. The fight against bovine tuberculosis has also been tackled. A separate law was passed on March 29, 1950: the Federal Act to Combat Bovine Tuberculosis. At the end of 1959, it was reported that the Swiss cattle herd had achieved freedom from tuberculosis. The weight of this event can be measured by the fact that the Federal Veterinary Office at the time published its own commemorative publication.

The Swiss veterinary authorities faced major challenges with the unexpected outbreak of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis in autumn 1977 . It took ten years to fight this disease, which farmers called just the letter disease because of the abbreviation IBR / IPV. The disease was eradicated in Switzerland - with great commitment at all levels of the veterinary authorities and in agriculture. The cost was approximately CHF 135 million.

In the 1990s, the focus was on combating two epidemics: on the one hand, classic swine fever , which broke out in the canton of Bern in 1993, and, on the other, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The classical swine fever was eradicated rapidly in domestic swine and since then only occasionally in wild boar (1999 Ticino) occurred. The fight against BSE (first case in Switzerland in 1990) dragged on until the turn of the millennium. The last five cases were not registered until 2006 (according to information on the website of the Federal Veterinary Office).

In 2012 the Federal Veterinary Office (FVO) was transferred from the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) to the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) in order to remove interfaces between the departments in the area of ​​food safety. With the association of the Federal Veterinary Office (FVO) and the Food Safety Department of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) at the beginning of 2014, further interfaces along the food chain were eliminated and synergies can be used.

aims

The main tasks of the FSVO include animal health, animal welfare, safe food, everyday objects and cosmetics as well as a healthy diet. In addition, there is the creation of good framework conditions for the export of food of animal origin. In addition, the FSVO monitors cross-border traffic and trade in animals and plants (in accordance with the CITES agreement ) as well as with animal products and food origin.

Position and cooperation

Tasks in the area of ​​animal and human health naturally also affect the areas of competence of other federal offices. There is close cooperation with the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG, especially in the area of Agroscope Liebefeld / Posieux ) and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). With the Institute for Virology and Immunology (IVI), the FSVO maintains its own research facility.

The basis for the enforcement and implementation of food law are the Food Act, the Food and Consumer Goods Ordinance and other ordinances that are based on them. The cantons are responsible for enforcement and are responsible for food control within their jurisdiction.

The enforcement of animal disease, animal welfare and food law in Switzerland is the responsibility of the cantons. For this purpose, there is a cantonal veterinary service in each canton, which, in close cooperation with the other cantonal authorities and the FSVO, takes preventive measures, orders control measures and carries out controls. The enforcement of the import of meat, meat products, live - and in particular protected - animals is a matter for the federal government. Due to the bilateral agreements with the European Union , the border veterinary service is mainly active at the two airports in Zurich and Geneva .

At the international level, the FSVO works intensively in various organizations. The Council of Europe deals primarily with animal welfare issues. Participation in the World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des EPizooties, OIE), which sets the standards for animals and animal products in international trade within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), serves to harmonize disease control at the international level.

As the Swiss enforcement authority, the FSVO plays an important role within the framework of the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES). This convention regulates international trade in endangered species of wild animals and plants. With its control function, the FSVO helps ensure that wild animals and plants that are already endangered in nature are not further decimated by trade. The FSVO represents similar concerns in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The cooperation in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in the World Health Organization (WHO) is also of great importance .

Since Switzerland signed an agreement on trade in agricultural products with the European Union as part of the bilateral treaties, cooperation with the veterinary authorities of the European Union has naturally also been intensive.

Legal action

In the Organization Ordinance for the Federal Department of Home Affairs, the FSVO's mandate is defined as follows:

  1. The FSVO is the federal competence center for animal health, animal welfare and species protection in international trade.
  2. Based on the scientific principles, the FSVO pursues the following objectives in particular:
    1. It ensures that quality is assured and consumers are protected in the production of foodstuffs, in the manufacture of commodities, and in the import and export of these products.
    2. It ensures that the consumers in its field of activity are protected from deception.
    3. It ensures that the public is informed about nutritional knowledge of general interest, which is particularly important for health care and health protection.
    4. It ensures that the animals are free from animal diseases that can be transmitted to other animals and to humans.
    5. It ensures the protection of animals from pain, suffering or damage and the sustainable use of wild animals.
    6. It supports the opening of the markets for food, everyday objects, animals and animal products.
  3. The FSVO prepares and participates in the drafting of decrees in the areas of food safety, nutrition, animal health, animal welfare and species protection in international trade. It oversees and coordinates their implementation.
  4. The Institute for Virology and Immunology (IVI) is subordinate to the FSVO as a research institute. The IVI is the federal competence center in the field of animal disease control. It deals in particular with the diagnosis, monitoring and control of highly contagious animal diseases in order to prevent damage to health and the economy as well as the registration of vaccines for animals.
  5. The Federal Unit for the Food Chain (BLK) is administratively assigned to the FSVO. The BLK is run jointly by the directors of the Federal Office for Agriculture and the FSVO. It supports these offices in overseeing the implementation of phytosanitary, animal feed, animal disease, animal welfare and food legislation and in drawing up the national control plan. As a coordination point, it contributes to ensuring food safety at all stages of production along the food chain.

director

literature

  • Federal Veterinary Office. Competence center for the welfare of animals and humans. Brochure. 1999, DNB 963425501 .
  • P. Gafner: The Federal Veterinary Office (FVO) - yesterday, today and tomorrow. Swissvet No. 6A, 1989
  • Ch. Riggenbach: The fight against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in Switzerland. PDF, published on the website of the Federal Veterinary Office, 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ P. Gafner: The Federal Veterinary Office (FVO) - yesterday, today and tomorrow. (= Swissvet No. 6A ). 1989.
  2. ↑ Ch. Riggenbach: The fight against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in Switzerland. PDF, published on the website of the Federal Veterinary Office, 1998.
  3. ^ History and significance of the FSVO. (No longer available online.) In: blv.admin.ch. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, archived from the original on August 8, 2014 ; accessed on July 31, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office. In: edi.admin.ch. Federal Department of Home Affairs, FDHA, accessed on July 31, 2014 .
  5. ↑ SR 817.0 Federal Law on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (Food Law, LMG)
  6. ↑ SR 817.02 Ordinance on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (LGV)
  7. ↑ Federal Veterinary Office. Competence center for the welfare of animals and humans. Brochure, 1999.
  8. ↑ SR 172.212.1 Organization Ordinance for the Federal Department of Home Affairs (OV-EDI) , Article 12

Coordinates: 46 ° 55 '50.4 "  N , 7 ° 25' 15.3"  E ; CH1903:  598 652  /  197730