Federal Department of Economic Affairs
Encyclopedia
The Federal Department of Economic Affairs is one of the seven departments
of the federal government of Switzerland
, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council
.
The following independent authorities are affiliated to the FDEA for administrative purposes:
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
of the federal government of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
.
Organisation
The Department is composed of the following offices:- General Secretariat, including the Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau FCAB (responsible for consumer affairs) and the Swiss civilian serviceCivilian serviceCivilian service is service to a government made as a civilian, particularly such service as an option for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors and object to military service...
agency (ZIVI). - State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco): Responsible for national and international economic policyEconomic policyEconomic policy refers to the actions that governments take in the economic field. It covers the systems for setting interest rates and government budget as well as the labor market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the economy.Such policies are often...
, trade negotiations and labour policy. - Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG): Responsible for agricultural policyAgricultural policyAgricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets...
and for direct paymentsDirect PaymentsThe Direct Payments scheme is a UK Government initiative in the field of Social Services that gives users money directly to pay for their own care, rather than the traditional route of a Local Government Authority providing care for them...
to Swiss farmers. - Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET): Responsible for vocational educationVocational educationVocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
and training, Universities of Applied Sciences and innovation promotion. - Federal Veterinary office (FVO): Responsible for animal welfareAnimal welfareAnimal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
and health, the safety of food of animal origin and the implementation of the CITES convention. - Integration Office (see FDFA above)
- Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES): Manages emergency supplies of essential goods and services.
- Federal Housing Office (FHO): Responsible for housing policy.
The following independent authorities are affiliated to the FDEA for administrative purposes:
- Price Supervisor: Price ombudsmanOmbudsmanAn ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
and responsible for the supervision of regulated prices. - Competition Commission: Swiss competition regulatorCompetition regulatorA competition regulator is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, sometimes called an economic regulator, which regulates and enforces competition laws, and may sometimes also enforce consumer protection laws...
. - Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET): Provides training for vocational educationVocational educationVocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
professionals.
Names of the department
- 1848-1872: Department of Trade and Customs
- 1873-1878: Department of Railway and Trade
- 1879-1887: Department of Trade and Agriculture
- 1888-1895: Department of Industry and Agriculture
- 1896-1914: Department of Trade, Industry and Agriculture
- 1915-1978: Department of Economic Affairs
- Since 1979: Federal Department of Economic Affairs
List of heads of the department
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External links
- Federal Department of Economic Affairs official site