It is in favour of strengthening multi-party stakeholder dialogue and expanding development cooperation in the area of responsible gold production, according to the foreign ministryExternal link.
However, it stopped short of proposing a legal reform, saying Switzerland had one of the strictest regulations on the gold trade in the world.
The findings are part of a parliament-commissioned report, which was published by the government on Wednesday.
“Traceable sourcing of the precious metal is essential because it is the only way to prevent gold mined in breach of human rights from being imported into Switzerland,” the statement says.
Switzerland is an important stakeholder in the international trade in gold, according to the government.
A substantial proportion of the gold produced worldwide is refined in Swiss foundries, which work with both mined and recycled gold. In 2017, some 2,404 tonnes of gold were imported into Switzerland (worth a total of CHF69.6 billion) and 1,684 tonnes were exported (CHF66.6 billion), according to official figures.
The government says Swiss refiners apply voluntary standards to ensure that production meets internationally recognised social and environmental standards. The statement also reiterated that Switzerland is working at the national and international levels to ensure that gold produced in violation of human rights is not imported into the country.
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A discreet crossroads for the world’s gold
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NGO condemns Swiss refiner over African gold imports
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A report by the Berne Declaration non-governmental organization published on Thursday claimed the Ticino-based refiner, Valcambi, imported seven tonnes of the precious metal in 2014 from Togo, a non-producing country. The gold was allegedly smuggled from Burkina Faso, where children and adults worked “under abysmal conditions”. The reportExternal link, entitled “A Golden Racket”, claimed the…
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