Once the new regulations come into force next January, the term “Alpine” can only be used to market dairy and meat products if they fulfil special conditions and have been approved by a certification office.

Terms that attempt to evade the rules, like “Alp Beef” or “Mountain Tea,” will also not be allowed, the Department of Economic Affairs declared.

The Federal Council has also introduced new regulations in response to the recent dioxin scandal and fears over irradiated food imported from Japan.

In the future, the department of agriculture will be able to demand a certificate to guarantee that seed, seedlings, fertilizer, pesticide and animal feed has not been polluted or irradiated.

The government also announced that Switzerland would fall in line with European Union regulations on feeding slops to pigs.

Since 2006, it has been illegal to feed pork slops to pigs in the EU. The Swiss government agreed to abide by the regulation in order to protect Swiss exports, but managed to negotiate a transition period so that the country’s pig farmers could adapt their production.

bk/The Local