Business Association Chemistry Pharma Life Sciences
 
Newsletter
January 23rd, 2019
   

The quarterly newsletter of scienceindustries, the Swiss Business Association Chemistry Pharma Life Sciences, keeps you informed about current economic and social issues.
 
 
Topics
in this issue
   
Business relationship between Switzerland and the UK in the context of Brexit  
 
EFTA-Indonesia free trade agreement  
 
Abolition of industrial tariffs improves economic framework conditions for companies  
 
Dual-use goods are not war material!  
 
Position of scienceindustries regarding parliamentary debate about reform of law on companies limited by shares  
 
Climate policy after 2020: Main requirements for total revision of CO2 law and integration of emission trading systems of Switzerland / EU  
 
Statement about first package of cost reduction measures  
 
Federal Council calls for rejection of "Drinking Water Initiative"  
 
Start-up Innovation Corner stirs up great interest at fourth "Brennpunkt Nahrung" conference  
 
SimplyScience.ch celebrates ten years of promoting young scientists  

 
 
      Business relationship between Switzerland and the UK in the context of Brexit

The Federal Council has approved the text of a trade agreement with the United Kingdom aiming to maintain existing economic and trade relationships after the UK's departure from the European Union. The signing of this agreement forms part of the Federal Council's "Mind the Gap" strategy. The Federal Council also approved an agreement concerning the rights of citizens after Brexit. The overland transport agreement guarantees that no permits will be required for freight traffic between Switzerland and the UK and upholds reciprocal road access for freight and passenger traffic. A new air transport agreement also ensures the smooth continuation of all current air transport rights. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO published an information sheet.
 
 
      EFTA-Indonesia free trade agreement

The free trade agreement between EFTA and Indonesia was signed in mid-December 2018 at an occasion attended by the Chairman of scienceindustries. The scope of application of the agreement is very comprehensive, whereby the chemical and pharmaceutical industry consistently pressed for the strong protection of intellectual property and will closely monitor the implementation of the agreed provisions by Indonesia.
 
 
      Abolition of industrial tariffs improves economic framework conditions for companies

The Federal Council wants to improve the economic framework conditions for companies by abolishing industrial tariffs. The customs tariff structure should also be simplified. scienceindustries welcomes the abolition of industrial tariffs and will support this initiative during the consultation process. scienceindustries also supports the customs tariff simplification, provided that this does not require the introduction of additional codes.
 
 
      Dual-use goods are not war material!

The aim of Motion 18.3394 "Expansion of democratic basis for weapons exports" is to instruct the Federal Council to delete the licensing criteria for export trade from the Ordinance on War Material (WMO) and include them in the Federal Act on War Material (WMA) instead. The exclusion criteria included in the Goods Control Act (GCA) should also be aligned to those of the War Material Act (WMA). The National Council approved the Motion. From the point of view of scienceindustries, the last sentence of the Motion in particular will have far-reaching and negative effects on the competitiveness of companies and would put them at a distinct disadvantage to their international competitors. The Motion should therefore be rejected, or at the very least the last sentence of the Motion's text should be deleted. scienceindustries will follow this up with the Security Policy Committees of the Council of States.
 
 
      Position of scienceindustries regarding parliamentary debate about reform of law on companies limited by shares

scienceindustries has taken note with great relief of the remandment of the revision of law on companies limited by shares to the advisory commission of the Council of States and supports the stance of the associations SwissHoldings and economiesuisse that the draft drawn up by the National Council may not be weakened by any provisions that could have serious negative consequences for Switzerland as a business location. In this context there is specifically no need for stricter provisions in the ordinance implementing the Minder-Initiative (VegüV, Ordinance against Excessive Remuneration in Listed Companies Limited by Shares), for problematic rules regarding proxies that will hamstring companies and for the expansion of the transparency provisions to include traders in raw materials. As far as scienceindustries is concerned, the revision of the law on companies limited by shares should focus on moderate and expedient rules on corporate governance and provisions to protect companies' autonomy to take their own decisions and shape their own future. It is of decisive importance to Switzerland as a business location that the law on companies limited by shares is sufficiently flexible and remains applicable.
 
 
      Climate policy after 2020: Main requirements for total revision of CO2 Act and integration of emission trading systems Switzerland / EU

In the current consultation process regarding the lawful basis for the climate policy after 2020, scienceindustries advocates a flexible, market-centric approach that also takes account of the successes achieved by the business sector to date and makes it possible to even better exploit the potential for reducing emissions in future. Central requirements could be asserted during the National Council's detailed consultation, but unfortunately the compromise that was found was rejected during the final vote. One of the reasons for this was the fact that the requirement for the flexibilisation of domestic/foreign targets was wrongly interpreted as an intention by the business sector to exclusively compensate its emissions abroad in future.

Our main requirements are:
  • Fast integration of the emissions trading systems of Switzerland and the EU. The speedy integration of the European and Swiss emissions trading systems is of central importance to our energy-intensive members.
  • Flexibilisation of domestic/foreign targets – acting globally rather than nationally. The national reduction target of 50 percent is accepted, but a flexibility mechanism instead of fixed sub-targets for domestic reduction and foreign compensation should be introduced. Even if foreign measures should be credited in full, reduction measures and related investments in their own operations will still be more attractive for industrial companies.
  • Opening of target agreements. We consider the full opening of the reduction obligations to all companies outside the emissions trading system who waive the lower limit of CHF 15,000 to be an essential measure in exhausting the reduction potential of the business sector.
  • No further increase in the maximum CO2 levy and a fair redistribution of the CO2 levy.
 
 
      Statement about first package of cost reduction measures

scienceindustries took part in the consultation process regarding the first package of measures to reduce healthcare costs and rejected the planned introduction of a reference price system, among others. Both proposed models harbour a substantial risk that the prices for providers of drugs that are no longer protected by patent will suffer above-average reduction without sufficient attention being paid to the higher cost structure in Switzerland. This could easily have a negative impact on the security of supply. On the other hand, premium payers are unlikely to see any recognisable cost savings. On the contrary, insured will be confronted by additional deductibles and the planned rule that this may not be credited to the cost contribution will create social and political problems. scienceindustries would also like to point out once again that drug prices have already been reduced substantially in the past few years owing to regular price reviews. Because of the system of differentiated price gaps, generics were and are still responsible for a substantial share of these price reductions. As far as the other proposed measures are concerned, scienceindustries generally favours the introduction of an experimentation article, but does not wish to see its application restricted to cost cutting programmes. scienceindustries also opposes the expansion of the right to lodge a complaint to insurers' associations and the models for reducing sales margins. You can find the detailed statement of position of scienceindustries here (only available in German).
 
 
      Federal Council calls for rejection of the "Drinking Water Initiative"

The authors of the "Drinking Water Initiative" demand that the government only subsidises farmers who do not buy in feed and who use neither pesticides nor antibiotics as a preventive measure. On 14 December 2018, the Federal Council called on Parliament to reject the Drinking Water Initiative without submitting a counterproposal. Quite rightly, too. The adoption of this initiative would have serious consequences for Switzerland. Without pesticides and bought-in fodder, agricultural production will decline sharply at many farms. Hygiene in stables and milk production will no longer be guaranteed. Diseases will multiply. Switzerland will have to import more food. There is even a risk that more intensive agricultural production could increase environmental pollution if farms should increasingly withdraw from the direct subsidy system so that they no longer have to meet the extreme requirements of the initiative. Public research will also be affected: Research to improve the efficient use of plant protection products will no longer qualify for subsidies in Switzerland. You can find the press release about the Dispatch on the Drinking Water Initiative here (only available in German or French): www.scienceindustries.ch/engagements/industriegruppe-agrar.
 
 
      Start-up Innovation Corner stirs up great interest at fourth "Brennpunkt Nahrung" conference

The fourth "Brennpunkt Nahrung" conference in Lucerne on 6 November 2018 was attended by 350 representatives of the agriculture and food sector. More than ten presentations and a leadership talk focused entirely on the digitisation of the agro-food sector. The "Start-up Innovation Corner" launched in 2018 on the initiative of scienceindustries also stirred up great interest at this fourth conference. In the exhibition area at the conference, six young entrepreneurs presented their innovative products and services for the agro-food sector. The Start-up Innovation Corner is supported by scienceindustries and three member companies. More information is available here in German or French.
 
 
      SimplyScience.ch celebrates ten years of promoting young scientists

In November 2018, the scienceindustries initiative SimplyScience celebrated its 10th anniversary with numerous guests. The purpose of the Foundation is to promote an interest and understanding of science and technology among children and young people between the ages of 8 and 18 years. Four primary school classes won a trip to visit the zoo, including lunch for all participants. At the anniversary celebration at the zoo, Alex Rübel, Director of the Zurich Zoo, Johannes Mure, Sector Head at the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI and Thomas Früh, Chairman of the Foundation Board of SimplyScience thanked the many people who have supported and promoted SimplyScience in the past ten years. "The child SimplyScience is growing up fast and today's birthday celebration should be just the start of the sustainable promotion of an understanding of science and technology among children and young people," said Thomas Flüeler, Manager of the SimplyScience Foundation. More information in German and French is available at: www.simplyscience.ch.
 
 
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scienceindustries is the Swiss business association for the chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Its around 250 member companies generate more than 98% of their revenues abroad. As Switzerland's biggest export industry, this sector contributes 45% to total exports and almost 40% to private research expenses in Switzerland.

Dr. Stephan Mumenthaler
Director
Marcel Sennhauser
Deputy Director
 
 
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