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On Monday, the Council of States instructed the Federal Council to investigate the application of the polluter pays principle to returns in online retail. He accepted a postulate from the Commission for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (Urek-S) by 34 votes to 8.
In concrete terms, the Federal Council should examine what legislative changes are necessary to ensure the application of the polluter pays principle for returns in online mail order companies. In addition to mandatory provisions, he must also look at financial incentives such as an incentive tax – for example in the form of an early refund compensation. The National Council rejected such a return payment in June this year.
Commission spokesperson Damian Müller (39, FDP) explained that according to a recent study, the return rate in online retail in Switzerland is 7 percent. This means that one in fourteen items is returned.
In individual sectors the average percentage is considerably higher, for example around 20 percent in the fashion industry. The returns would entail a lot of extra work for the providers. Individual studies have shown that Switzerland also leads Europe when it comes to returns – with a rate of 28 percent compared to 14 percent in the rest of Europe.
Free returns would create both an economic and environmental disincentive: retailers would incur additional costs as a result of the returns. From an ecological point of view, useful items that have been transported over long distances end up in the trash.
The Federal Council had requested the rejection of the postulate. Economy Minister Guy Parmelin, 64, said he still sees no justification for such an intervention in economic freedom, as the overall ecological effects of such measures are unclear.
Moreover, there are already ecologically responsible incentives to avoid unnecessary travel. According to a current report from the Federal Council, there is little evidence that new non-food products are destroyed on a large scale in Switzerland. (SDA/oco)
Source:Blick
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