Sustainable trade in tropical timber and the preservation of tropical forests is the overriding aim of the economic development cooperation policy of SECO. However, the utilization of tropical timber in Switzerland has been a hot political issue for many years. Seeking to take account of social and environmental criteria and concluding agreements based on voluntary, public-private cooperation are far more effective ways of putting a stop to exhaustive logging than placing bans on trade. This is why SECO is supporting such voluntary initiatives between industries and civil society. For example, one successful on-going initiative is the agreement between the Swiss Door Manufacturers Association, which has 30% of the market share of Swiss tropical timber imports (comprising 400,000 manufactured doors), and the environmental associations WWF and Greenpeace. In many respects this is a model that could well lead to further fair-trade agreements.

Projects in Switzerland

- Agreement between the Swiss Door Manufacturers Association (VST) and the environmental associations WWF and Greenpeace