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Did you know Switzerland has a free trade agreement with China? We have the same strict/very similar strict rules as the EU does. In Switzerland if you import

Did you know Switzerland has a free trade agreement with China? We have the same strict/very similar strict rules as the EU does. In Switzerland if you import dangerous junk and sell it in your store, you are liable. Of course the end consumer can also directly purchase from China as well but then it is their responsibility (Eigenverantwortung). Customs will also confiscate fake brands and for example radios that violate frequencies rules (unless you can provide documents that you are allowed to operate such a device, ham radio license etc.)

comrade1234 1y ago
The article is mostly about duties. If you buy from someone outside of Switzerland that doesn't take care of the customs fees it's a pain for you. I once bought something that was only around 40chf from someone in the eu but then had to pay an extra ~40chf to Swiss customs for tax + plus handling fees (they had to open the box, inspect it, repackage it and send it to me).
MandieD 1y ago
In Switzerland if you import dangerous junk and sell it in your store, you are liable. Oh, that's why amazon.ch redirects to amazon.de... In general, manufacturers and retailers have more legal responsibility for what they sell here in Germany than in the USA, but it feels like Switzerland takes that even further, in good but more expensive ways.
- comrade1234 1y ago
  There is no Amazon in Switzerland. Well, they probably have an office here for tax schemes, but there's no Amazon service. Instead we have Galaxus which is awesome and so I fully expect Amazon to buy it one day and ruin it.
rob74 1y ago
And if my neighbor purchases a cheap battery-powered product that violates all electrical regulations from TEMU and the fire started by it burns down my apartment too, who's responsible then? I guess my neighbor, and the insurance will probably cover the costs, but I will still have lost the apartment and all the stuff that was in it. And customs will maybe look at big shipments, but can't hope to check even a tiny fraction of the millions of small packages.
graemep 1y ago
"n Switzerland if you import dangerous junk and sell it in your store, you are liable." The same in the UK, and a lot of other countries. The retailer is responsible to the customer, the importer or wholesaler to the retailer. > Of course the end consumer can also directly purchase from China as well but then it is their responsibility Providing an easy workaround to safety regulations does not sound like a great idea to me. If you let consumers easily buy unsafe things it will lead to problems. Consumers often do not even realise that things do not meet standards, especially if they buy it through somewhere like Amazon. You could argue that consumers should do their own checks, but then why have the regulation of what can be sold in the first place?
- comrade1234 1y ago
  > If you let consumers easily buy unsafe things it will lead to problems. It's Switzerland.... I can buy fireworks rockets as big as my leg at the grocery store just before Swiss national day.
- sschueller 1y ago
  We have a big thing in Switzerland called "Eigenverantwortung". You need to take responsibility, the state will not babysit you at everything. You have the freedom to purchase abroad but at your responsibility.
  - graemep 1y ago
    I like that. Here in the UK we have definitely gone too far far the other way, and I dislike the effect its having. A lot of people seem to want want the state to tell them what to do.
stinkbeetle 1y ago
Free trade? With no adjustment given to the CO2 emission intensity of production or CO2 emission per capita which are much higher in China than Switzerland? That's basically subsidizing climate change and encouraging production to move to dirtier regimes. Seems fairly wild.

comrade1234 1y ago

The article is mostly about duties. If you buy from someone outside of Switzerland that doesn't take care of the customs fees it's a pain for you. I once bought something that was only around 40chf from someone in the eu but then had to pay an extra ~40chf to Swiss customs for tax + plus handling fees (they had to open the box, inspect it, repackage it and send it to me).

MandieD 1y ago

In Switzerland if you import dangerous junk and sell it in your store, you are liable. Oh, that's why amazon.ch redirects to amazon.de... In general, manufacturers and retailers have more legal responsibility for what they sell here in Germany than in the USA, but it feels like Switzerland takes that even further, in good but more expensive ways.

comrade1234 1y ago
There is no Amazon in Switzerland. Well, they probably have an office here for tax schemes, but there's no Amazon service. Instead we have Galaxus which is awesome and so I fully expect Amazon to buy it one day and ruin it.

rob74 1y ago

And if my neighbor purchases a cheap battery-powered product that violates all electrical regulations from TEMU and the fire started by it burns down my apartment too, who's responsible then? I guess my neighbor, and the insurance will probably cover the costs, but I will still have lost the apartment and all the stuff that was in it. And customs will maybe look at big shipments, but can't hope to check even a tiny fraction of the millions of small packages.

graemep 1y ago

"n Switzerland if you import dangerous junk and sell it in your store, you are liable." The same in the UK, and a lot of other countries. The retailer is responsible to the customer, the importer or wholesaler to the retailer. > Of course the end consumer can also directly purchase from China as well but then it is their responsibility Providing an easy workaround to safety regulations does not sound like a great idea to me. If you let consumers easily buy unsafe things it will lead to problems. Consumers often do not even realise that things do not meet standards, especially if they buy it through somewhere like Amazon. You could argue that consumers should do their own checks, but then why have the regulation of what can be sold in the first place?

comrade1234 1y ago
> If you let consumers easily buy unsafe things it will lead to problems. It's Switzerland.... I can buy fireworks rockets as big as my leg at the grocery store just before Swiss national day.
sschueller 1y ago
We have a big thing in Switzerland called "Eigenverantwortung". You need to take responsibility, the state will not babysit you at everything. You have the freedom to purchase abroad but at your responsibility.
- graemep 1y ago
  I like that. Here in the UK we have definitely gone too far far the other way, and I dislike the effect its having. A lot of people seem to want want the state to tell them what to do.

stinkbeetle 1y ago

Free trade? With no adjustment given to the CO2 emission intensity of production or CO2 emission per capita which are much higher in China than Switzerland? That's basically subsidizing climate change and encouraging production to move to dirtier regimes. Seems fairly wild.