Flying, eating, Ukrainians: that will change in Switzerland in February

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From February 24, 2024, Ukrainians must carry their S-ID card when driving a car or motorcycle in Switzerland. No later than two years after entering the country, Ukrainians must exchange their Ukrainian driver’s license for a Swiss copy and also take a test drive. With the new rule, the police should be able to determine during a traffic stop whether the 24-month period is still running.

From February 1, 2024, aviation in Switzerland must become safer. Switzerland adopts EU legislation, which contains new technical regulations and aims to improve the flow of information. This is especially true if an airline is no longer allowed to take off in the EU.

New aviation rules came into effect in July last year, including minimum tire pressure for large aircraft and a new information security management system to protect against cyber risks.

From February 1, 2024, in addition to the paper Schengen visa – which allows foreigners from non-EU countries to travel to Switzerland – a digital visa in the form of a barcode is also possible. The Federal Council is adapting a regulation to this end.

In the future, Schengen visa applications must be submitted digitally on a European platform. To this end, Switzerland must adapt its national legislation and has launched a consultation to this end. It will not be connected to the platform until 2028 at the earliest.

The Federal Council further writes: “The digitalization of the visa process not only has consequences for short-stay visas in the Schengen area, which are applied for via the EU platform, but also for national visas.”

From February 1, 2024, farmers will be relieved: milk will be allowed to be stored on the farm for longer in the future. Previously, cow’s milk had to be transported from the farm to the processing plant within 48 hours. There are now two calendar days. From now on, cow’s milk from Monday morning must be processed by Wednesday evening and no longer by Wednesday morning.

As Bauernzeitung reports, the maximum storage period for sheep and goat milk will also be lifted. This is intended to promote smaller cheese dairies. The maximum storage period of 48 hours can hardly be adhered to due to smaller production quantities, longer distances and irregular collections.

However, the condition is that all hygiene regulations are continuously observed.

The bakers will have more work: from February 1, 2024, bakeries, restaurants and retailers must indicate the origin of the goods in writing when selling croissants and other pastries in the open air. Until now, it was sufficient for the baker to verbally mention the country of origin.

In this way, consumers should be able to better see where the sandwiches were produced, the Federal Council wrote in a statement.

When a cow is killed on a farm or pasture, time is of the essence: the dead animal must be transported to a slaughterhouse and gutted within 45 minutes. From February 1, 2024, this period will be extended to 90 minutes.

The federal government justifies this decision by saying that food hygiene is guaranteed even over a period of 90 minutes. At the same time, killing farms and pastures would be made easier.

They have complicated names and are dangerous to humans: per- and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds. These are chemicals that are difficult to break down and are actually used in fire-fighting foam, textiles or paint. But they can also enter the food chain in various ways and therefore pose a health risk. In children, vaccinations can be less effective or damage the liver and kidneys.

From 1 February 2024, certain maximum values ​​may no longer be exceeded for eggs, meat, certain fish species, crustaceans and mussels.

The Federal Council is closing a legal loophole in the financial market: anyone who provides false or incomplete information in a prospectus or in a preliminary announcement of a public purchase offer on the stock exchange will be fined again.

If you deliberately provide incorrect or incomplete information in the prospectus or during pre-registration, you risk a fine of half a million francs. In case of negligence, the fine is set at 150,000 francs. The reason for the move was a takeover under false information from the owner.

The new arrangement is based on a parliamentary initiative by the then SVP councilor of Zurich, Hans-Ueli Vogt. The reason was the takeover of flight caterer Gategroup by the Chinese conglomerate HNA in 2017. The takeover committee at the time called in law enforcement authorities and Finma because HNA had provided incorrect information about the owners.

(with material from SDA)

Source:Blick