International rules-based trade relationships make an important contribution to sustainable development and food security. As a major nett importer of foodstuffs, Switzerland is closely intertwined with international agricultural trade, especially with the European Union (EU). For this reason, Agroscope conducts intensive research on the foreign trade of agricultural products and foods, with the following priorities:
- Impact of trade policy instruments
Our researchers study how different policy measures affect trade volumes, prices and the composition of trade partners and goods. In addition to the impact of tariffs and tariff quotas, non-tariff trade barriers such as (sustainability) standards and geographical indications of source are considered.
- Importance of Free-Trade Agreements
In addition to its bilateral agreement with the EU, Switzerland has preferential trade agreements with non-member countries. Agroscope analyses how these affect trade, and in doing so also supports the structure of future agreements.
- Price transmission
On the one hand, Switzerland is closely intertwined with its trade partners; on the other hand, a high border protection continues to exist for many products. Against the backdrop of these conflicting priorities, we investigate whether and how price signals from international markets are transmitted to Switzerland.
