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Switzerland is committed to institutional reforms that will help to achieve more effective implementation and, if needed, further development of existing international environment -related regulations and processes. It has ratified the major multilateral  environmental agreements. These concern the climate , biological diversity and chemicals. With regard to the latter, Switzerland welcomes the amalgamation of the Secretariats of the Basel , Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. It is working towards the conclusion of a binding agreement on mercury. In relation to climate , it is in favour of setting legally binding objectives for the reduction of green house gases for all industrialized countries, but also for emerging countries that are large emitters depending on their capacities. It is ready to agree to a second period of commitments under the Kyoto Protocol from 2013 onwards. Switzerland and the EU are negotiating on setting up a network for their emission quota trading systems. The central element of Switzerland's climate policy is the law on CO2, which was revised in 2011, inter alia, with a view to the post-Kyoto period (see Section 1.3.1.6 above). Since July 2008, Switzerland has exempted biofuels that have a positive ecological and social impact from the tax on mineral oils. In relation to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD), Switzerland supports the implementation of the 2011-2020 global strategic plan. It calls for clarification of financial needs in relation to the CBD. Switzerland would like see synergies deepened and more cooperation among the various biodiversity -related conventions. It intends to make efforts to ensure that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is given the resources needed in relation to biodiversity and is made more effective. Switzerland supports the study entitled The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity(TEEB), which proposes a framework for taking into account the value of biodiversity and ecosystemic services. It adopted a national biodiversity strategy in April 2012 and will draw up an action plan up to mid-2014 to give effect to the ten objectives in this strategy.

As a consequence of Liechtenstein's EEA membership since 1 May 1995, and in order to maintain the Customs Union with Switzerland (Switzerland is not an EEA member), Liechtenstein must ensure within its territory the parallel marketability of goods under both the Swiss and EEA rules. To this end, Liechtenstein maintains a Market Control and Surveillance Mechanism (MCSM), which applies to imports subject to customs tariffs or non-tariff requirements that are different in the EEA and Switzerland. The MCSM is aimed at ensuring that goods that do not satisfy Swiss import requirements do not enter the Swiss market via the open border.(...) The MCSM applies to professional traders, i.e. distributors/dealers (but not to small importers), and to three categories of goods (LGBl. 2009/394, Annex 1): (i) products on which Swiss and EEA import requirements are different (e.g. pharmaceuticals, chemicals/goods hazardous to the environment ,genetically modified organisms , some telecom equipment); (...)

The law on CO2 has been revised for the post-2012 period. 24 In December 2011, Parliament decided to reduce Switzerland's green house gas emissions by at least 20% in comparison with their 1990 levels by 2020. As the revised CO2 law focuses on reductions made in Switzerland, the potential for domestic reduction is exploited and incentives are given for increased use of renewable energy with low emission rates, encouraging technological innovation and fostering job creation in sectors of the future. Domestic measures to enhance efficiency also have the advantage of lessening Switzerland's dependence on imports of energy and help to reduce the harmful effects of atmospheric pollution on health. The revised CO2 law came into effect on 1 January 2013.

The new legal bases represent a continuation of the current CO2 law. In addition to measures taken in the context of other sectoral policies (for example, SuisseEnergie25, the proportional heavy vehicle tax [RPLP]26), measures and tools that have proved their worth have been renewed and improved and new measures introduced: exemption from the CO2 tax and system for trading emission quotas for companies producing large volumes of emissions ;

Requirement that importers of fossil fuels offset part of the emissions caused by their products;

Requirement that operators of thermal power stations using fossil fuels offset the stations'emissions ; and lastly

Flexibility mechanisms in the Kyoto Protocol (limited recognition for emission reductions in projects carried out abroad).

The partial revision of the patent law mainly concerned biotechnology inventions and ratification of the WIPO Patent Law Treaty (PLT), but also included other revisions of legislation on the principal intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks, geographical indications and designs), introducing in particular additional provisions 27 on combating counterfeiting and piracy

One cross-cutting objective of particular importance in Switzerland's trade-related cooperation is the sustainability of exports. Switzerland pursues this objective by endeavouring to promote the efficient use of resources in production, to encourage the transfer of environmentally friendly technology, to convince firms to adopt core labour and human rights standards, to give priority to exports manufactured using sustainable methods, and in the agricultural sector, the use of organic certification and good agricultural practices. As far as the protection of biological diversity is concerned, several issues are covered: access to genetic resources and fair sharing of the benefits from exploiting them (access and benefit sharing), traditional knowledge and geographical indications. In the case of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Switzerland supports the promotion of pilot projects in the industrial sector through theclean production programme, the creation of new market mechanisms for trading CO2 emission rights and strengthening of the Kyoto Protocol-related institutions.

For many developing countries, the promotion of organic farming or fair trade products provides a good opportunity to penetrate agricultural markets in Switzerland and the EU. It also helps to increase the local value added of basic and processed agricultural products. In Switzerland, high-quality regional specialities with acknowledged properties are also a good trade outlet. This is why trade-related cooperation projects aim to improve market access for such niche products. In addition, Switzerland is taking further steps to promote sustainable development in mass markets. Minimum social and environmental criteria are defined in agreement with representatives of interest groups in the various links in the value-creation chain (producers in developing countries, representatives of wholesalers, retailers and the agri-food industry) and with non-governmental organizations. In an effort to increase the use and the impact of such private voluntary standards, Switzerland supports initiatives intended to provide better information on the various standards, to improve and harmonize tools for training producers regarding the various standards and to involve decision-makers in emerging and developing countries more closely in the international discussions on such standards. Along the same lines, Switzerland supports the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact so as to expand the respective networks in emerging countries and, thereby, respond better to local needs in relation to sustainable management and reporting.