Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

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Employees
  
1,919

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Formed
  
1848; 169 years ago (1848)

Jurisdiction
  
Federal administration of Switzerland

Headquarters
  
Federal Palace (east wing), Bern

Annual budget
  
Expenditure: CHF 6.1 billion Revenue: CHF 271.8 million (2009)

Minister responsible
  
Johann Schneider-Ammann, Federal Councillor

The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, German: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; French: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; Italian: Dipartimento federale dell'economia, della formazione e della ricerca) is one of the seven departments of the federal government of Switzerland, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council.

Contents

The department was renamed from Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) effective on 1 January 2013 based on decisions taken by the Federal Council in 2011.

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 service agency (ZIVI).
  • State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO): Responsible for national and international economic policy, trade negotiations and labour policy.
  • State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
  • Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG): Responsible for agricultural policy and for direct payments to Swiss farmers.
  • Federal Veterinary office (FVO): Responsible for animal welfare 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 ombudsman and responsible for the supervision of regulated prices.
  • Competition Commission: Swiss competition regulator.
  • Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET): Provides training for vocational education 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
  • 1979–2012: Federal Department of Economic Affairs
  • since 2013: Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

    • References

    Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA