Federal Office for Agriculture
| Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Headquarters | Love field |
| Chief | Christian Hofer |
| Employees | about 250 |
| At sight | Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research EAER |
| Website | www.blw.admin.ch |
The Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG ( French Office fédéral de l'agriculture OFAG , Italian Ufficio federale dell'agricoltura UFAG , Rhaeto-Romanic Uffizi federal d'agricultura UFAG ) is a federal authority of the Swiss Confederation . It is a specialist office of the Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research EAER of the Swiss Federal Government ( Federal Council ). The office sees itself as a specialist unit for the agricultural sector and is divided into five directorate areas (political control and resources, production and ecosystems, international affairs, markets and value creation, and the last area is direct payments and rural development ). The three federal agricultural research institutes ( Agroscope ) and the national stud in Avenches are also subordinate to the FOAG . For example, the FOAG monitors the carbon content of the soil in Switzerland and determines its potential for carbon storage .
criticism
The Federal Office for Agriculture is responsible for the approval of plant protection products. In 2017, an alliance of 13 different organizations sent an open letter to Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann to transfer the approval process to an independent body. In the past few months, representatives of the FOAG have made several statements about pesticides that raise the fear of bias on the part of the office, the letter says. The 13 organizations that co-authored the letter include: Bio Suisse , Vision Landwirtschaft, Pro Natura , Greenpeace and WWF . Cantonal chemists have also been accusing the Federal Office of lack of transparency and dependency for years. In June 2019 it became known that the federal government is having the approval process for plant protection products reviewed by the external KPMG . The KPMG report was published in November 2019.
In November 2019, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wasserwerke Bodensee-Rhein (AWBR), an association of over 60 water supply companies in the catchment area of the Aare, the Rhine, the Alpine lakes and Lake Constance, wrote an open letter to the Federal Office for Agriculture and the responsible department . Among other things, an immediate ban on the sale and use of chlorothalonil was demanded, since residues of this pesticide could be detected again and again in the groundwater and drinking water . Furthermore, the groundwater monitoring for pesticides and pesticide degradation products should be financed through fees on pesticide sales (→ polluter pays principle ).
Web links
- Website of the Federal Office for Agriculture
- Directors in the Agricultural History Archives since 1884
Individual evidence
- ^ Adrian Krebs: A Bernese at the top: Christian Hofer becomes the new director of the Federal Office for Agriculture. In: bauernzeitung.ch. August 14, 2019, accessed August 15, 2019 .
- ↑ Authorization procedure (PSM) Federal Office for Agriculture, accessed on November 12, 2017.
- ↑ Independent approval agency for pesticides required In: www.bauernzeitung.ch of October 31, 2017, accessed on October 31, 2017.
- ↑ Remi Bütler and Stephan Weber: Harsh criticism - the federal government allows pesticide approval authorities to be screened. In: srf.ch . June 21, 2019, accessed June 22, 2019 .
- ^ FOAG: Report on the evaluation of the approval of plant protection products completed. November 21, 2019, accessed December 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Auditors harshly criticize pesticide approval. In: Blick.ch . November 22, 2019, accessed December 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Plant protection products: Water suppliers demand clarity. In: bauernzeitung.ch. November 6, 2019, accessed November 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Application for the publication of a list of pesticides to optimize groundwater and drinking water monitoring in Switzerland. (PDF; 152 KB) In: bauernzeitung.ch. November 6, 2019, accessed November 6, 2019 .