Swiss Bid for Sustainable Food May Run It Into Trade Trouble

Switzerland is set to vote on two measures intended to foster sustainable, local agriculture that could greatly complicate the import of foodstuff to the land-locked, mountainous country and even run it afoul with global trade rules.

Sunday’s plebiscite comes against the backdrop of rising global trade tensions, and also just as Switzerland is trying to sort out its relationship with the European Union, its biggest trading partner. The government in Bern has warned a “yes” vote to either of the two initiatives -- dubbed “Fair Food” and “Food Sovereignty” -- could contravene Switzerland’s international commitments, to the detriment of the economy.