The vote was closer than expected... The main pockets of resistance were the French-speaking cantons such as Geneva (where a lot of commodity firms are based) and Vaud (home of the headquarters of Swiss food giant Nestlé).

Palm oil was at the heart of the referendum on the free trade agreement between Switzerland and Indonesia. The deal aims to facilitate trade with the South-East Asian country and will now remove customs duties on Swiss exports...

Tariff reductions are also planned for certain agricultural products, in particular palm oil, of which Indonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter. 

Those backing the referendum included opponents of globalisation, left-wing parties and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Their arguments against the free trade deal were mainly environmental, with opponents pointing out that palm oil cultivation is linked to the destruction of the rainforest. Supporters of the deal, on the other hand, argued that imported palm oil will have to meet certain environmental standards in order to qualify for a tariff reduction...

Swiss NGOs, especially those that did not take a side in the vote, said the outcome demonstrated that a change in the nature of economic agreements was necessary. Alliance Sud, the Society for Threatened Peoples and Public Eye welcomed the interest shown in the debate on Swiss trade policy...

Many NGOs were also reluctant to condemn the trade deal outright. They liked the idea of the sustainability clauses incorporated in the agreement but were not completely convinced that verification measures and sanctions were effective. Greenpeace Switzerland, who deserves a lot of the credit for raising awareness on the effects of palm oil in the first place, is one such example. The NGO recommended a “no” vote for the deal, while admitting that “in principle, this is a step in the right direction”. 

The result on March 7 could determine the fate of other free trade deals in the pipeline with environmentally sensitive partners like Malaysia or the South American Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) block.