Trade association challenges the Swiss cross on foreign-made goods

The Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts is challenging the practice that allows the Swiss cross to be placed on products manufactured abroad. To support its position the organisation has presented the results of two surveys, one conducted among craftspeople and one among voters.

The figures point in the same direction. In both groups almost 90 per cent believe the Swiss cross should remain reserved for producers who manufacture in the country. A similar share, just under nine respondents in ten, holds that the economy would benefit if the symbol stayed tied to entirely Swiss products.

The Demoscope survey also records a perception figure: 60 per cent of respondents report declining confidence in the Swiss cross. Among business owners, half judge the new rule to be very disadvantageous for small and medium-sized enterprises without production abroad.

Where the practice comes from

The complaint concerns a decision by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property that took effect in March 2026. The new practice permits wording such as "Swiss Design" or "Swiss Engineering" even for goods produced entirely outside the country. In parallel, the footwear manufacturer On won a dispute granting it the right to use the Swiss cross despite manufacturing abroad.

The reasoning behind the decision is that design and engineering work carried out in Switzerland is in itself a sufficient link to the country. The opposing reasoning, that of the trade association, is that the symbol's value derives from production rather than conception, and that extending it weakens it.

The organisation offers a concrete example. Kybun, a St Gallen shoemaker, is moving part of its production to Italy, with consequences for around forty jobs. The association calls it a first significant case of relocation traceable to the new practice: if the cross can be kept while producing elsewhere, one of the economic reasons to stay disappears.

The dispute concerns an asset that no single firm owns. The commercial value of the Swiss cross derives from the aggregate behaviour of thousands of companies over decades, and every firm that uses it consumes a share without bearing the cost of building it. It is the same mechanism that makes geographical indications a matter of public regulation rather than private contract.

The association is calling for the symbol's exclusivity to be restored for domestic producers. A change of that kind, however, requires action at the level of administrative practice or legislation, and the timescale of such a change is not that of corporate decisions already taken.