Action plan for clean water launched
Water in Switzerland is to be better protected. The Federal Council has therefore opened a consultation on the "Clean Water Action Plan". It contains a package of agricultural ordinances in connection with the parliamentary initiative "Reducing the risk associated with the use of plant protection products".
In the 2021 spring session, Parliament completed its consideration of parliamentary initiative 19.475 "Reducing the risk associated with the use of pesticides". The new legislative provisions will strengthen the protection of the environment and water bodies from the negative effects of the use of pesticides and biocides, as well as from excess nutrients. Compared to the Drinking water- and the Pesticide Initiativeon which the people will vote on June 13, the new legislation provides more concrete solutions in places, writes the Federal Council.
The parliamentary initiative concerns the Agriculture Act, the Water Protection Act and the Chemicals Act. The exact content must be specified at ordinance level. As a first step, the Federal Council wants to address measures affecting agricultural law. This would largely implement the provisions of the suspended agricultural policy from 2022 (AP22+) concerning plant protection products and nutrient surpluses. Parliament had also adopted more far-reaching measures and extended the scope beyond agriculture.
Tackling contamination from pesticides
The goals are clear: the protection of surface waters of biotopes as well as groundwater and drinking water from contamination by plant protection products must be further advanced. One of the landmark targets is to reduce the risks associated with the use of plant protection products by 50 percent by 2027.
For example, in order to continue receiving direct payments, farms may no longer use active ingredients "with increased risk potential," as is the case with herbicides such as Dimethachlor the case. In addition, farms must take measures to reduce runoff and drift of pesticides from treated plots, for example, by leaving more space between their plot and water wells during application, according to the federal notice.
Less nutrient surplus
With regard to the protection of water bodies from excess fertilizer, agriculture must ensure that fewer nutrient surpluses occur, he said. This, he said, is intended to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels in soils. The goal, he said, is to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses by 20 percent by 2030. To this end, the Federal Council is proposing, among other things, to abolish the error range of 10 percent that is tolerated when calculating the fertilizer balance. However, it would still be possible to pass on surpluses to farms that could use this farmyard manure. In this way, artificial fertilizer could be replaced, he said.
The Direct Payment Ordinance, the Ordinance on Information Systems in the Field of Agriculture and the Ordinance on the Assessment of Sustainability in Agriculture are part of this first package of agricultural ordinances. The consultation procedure will last until August 18, 2021, according to the information provided.
A second package of ordinances with additional measures will be submitted for consultation at a later date, the Federal Council said.
Source: Confederation
The documents and detailed drafts of changes can be obtained from the Website of the Federal Office for Agriculture can be downloaded.
