Agriculture industry group

The agriculture industry group brings together plant protection specialists from BASF Schweiz AG, Bayer (Schweiz) AG, Leu+Gygax AG, Omya Schweiz AG Agro, Stähler Suisse SA, and Syngenta Schweiz.

The group is committed to innovative and environmentally friendly solutions in the field of plant protection. Switzerland should remain a world leader in the research and development of plant protection products.
 

No agriculture without plant protection

Without plant protection products, it would not be possible to produce food in the required quality and quantity. Modern plant protection products are among the best-researched substances. They may only be placed on the market after they have been approved by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). Risk minimization is subject to strict legal requirements.
 

What we are committed to

Productive domestic agriculture. The protection of cultivated plants is a key element of productive, resource-efficient and sustainable agriculture.

Switzerland should remain a leader. Switzerland is a world leader in the research and development of plant protection products and active ingredients - also in terms of risk minimization and sustainable use. This should remain the case.

Science- and risk-based regulation. The speed at which new active ingredients are introduced to the market has slowed considerably in recent years. The reasons for this are the lengthy and non-transparent approval procedures coupled with an excessive precautionary principle. Approvals need to be accelerated.

Accelerate innovation. Innovations in plant cultivation, be it in the area of modern seed breeding methods, modern synthetic plant protection or so-called biologicals, need rapid market access. Innovation-friendly and lean regulations support the research location in the long term.

Identify negative market effects. Parallel imports of plant protection products have a negative impact on the quality of advice and services provided by domestic suppliers. The safety of people and the environment is paramount and must not be undermined.
 

How we achieve our goals

The agriculture industry group is committed to innovative and environmentally friendly solutions in the field of crop protection and supports the transformation of global agricultural and food systems towards greater sustainability and resource efficiency in a comprehensive sense. Switzerland should remain a global leader in research and development for crop protection. To achieve this, the Group has set itself the following priorities:

• Helping to shape the political framework to strengthen food security and crop protection.
• Representing interests in all matters relating to innovation, legislation, its implementation and the use of crop protection products.
• Providing background information on the challenges of Swiss and global food production.