Switzerland

4. Position of the Federal Council on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 

4.3 The position and expectations of the Federal Council [page 7]

In compliance with Pillar 2 of the UNGP and the ‘Human Rights’ chapter of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, business enterprises that are based and/or operate in Switzerland should respect human rights in all of their business activities, wherever they operate. Accordingly they should seek to prevent adverse human rights impacts..

The activities of Swiss companies should not result in any adverse impacts on human rights. They should therefore seek to prevent any negative effects to which they are directly linked through their business relationships. Business enterprises thus also have at least an indirect responsibility for business relationships via which they either themselves contribute to human rights abuses, or might otherwise become involved in. ‘Business relationships’ in the sense of the UNGP are understood to include relations with business partners (including entities in their value chains), and any other non-State or State entity linked to the company’s business operations, products or services.