Large distributors like Coop, Migros or Denner may soon be forced to reveal their margins on the food industry: after the National, the Council of States accepted this week a parliamentary initiative requesting the establishment of a market observatory.
The tasks of this observatory must be specified in order to create more transparency on prices, margins and costs, requests the former deputy Isabelle Pasquier-Eichenberger (Vert-Ees/GE) in his text, taken up by his colleague from Party Sophie Michaud Gigon (VD).
And to recall that, since 1990, the price index for the production of agricultural products has dropped by 25%. In addition, competition with European and international prices as well as the decrease in customs duties have put producers under pressure.
Lack of transparency
The prices of native foodstuffs increase for the population, while the price paid to producers remains unchanged, or even tends to decrease. The fixing of prices in the retail trade remains a very opaque element and the price does not always reflect the real costs of production, still argued the Geneva.
“The important thing for me is to know how much the farmer earns in relation to what he sells and how much the price on the display rises. The farmer also would like to be able to put a franc to amortize his house. He will certainly sell his vegetable at a loss,” said the Pierre-Alain Schweizer market gardener on Saturday in the 19:30.
Today, it is impossible to dissect the prices of what is sold in supermarkets. For their part, the Coop, Migros and Denner brands, contacted by RTS, believe that the initiative requests too much.
>> Review the subject of 7:30 p.m. on the lack of transparency on the margins:
Do not wait
The preparatory committee agreed to improve prices observation within the agrifood sectors and a fair distribution of added value in this. But she believed that these questions must be settled in the 2030+ agricultural policy.
For the Commission, Peter Hegglin (Center/ZG) praised the main objectives of the initiative. However, the requirements made in the text are too precise and go too far overall. Parliament should be limited to defining the outline without going into detail too much.
>> A lire : Still angry, Swiss farmers believe that their demands have not been heard
In addition, the statement and publication of margins at all levels of transformation and trade would oblige companies, in certain circumstances, to reveal their business secrets. This would also lead to a huge administrative workload, said Peter Hegglin.
The left defended the initiative. We must not wait for the agricultural policy 2030+ to settle this question, advanced Maya Graf (Green-Es/BL). In the vote, it was also heard by the UDC and part of the center and the PLR.
Rad with ATS
