“Made in Switzerland” is considered to be a good marketing tool, and has been stretched to the utmost. With the aim to prevent misuse the Federal Law on Trademarks will be amended to define more precisely which products qualify for being marketed as «Swiss Product» and/or bearing the Swiss flag.
The amendment proposal is fully endorsed in general, but has given rise to heavy debates with regard to foods: food products such as biscuits, soups or pasta should only be allowed to be labelled as „Swiss“, if at least 80% of the ingredients are of Swiss origin. Swiss Food industry strongly advocates for a lower 60%-ingredients threshold, arguing, that many raw ingredients are not available from Swiss origin at all, or not in sufficient quantities, and that for food products not the origin of ingredients is decisive but the place where the product is manufactured and where it receives its final denomination. The Council of States (Ständerat) will decide upon the amendment in its autumn session 2012.
