blue | 17 June 2026
Parliament approves EFTA trade agreement with Malaysia
by Keystone-SDA
The Federal Assembly has approved the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EFTA countries and Malaysia, which was concluded last year. Following the Council of States’ approval in March, the National Council also gave its approval on Wednesday.
A left-wing and Green minority failed in the debate with a motion to refer the agreement back to committee. With this motion, they had sought to compel the Federal Council to make certain changes. For example, the agreement was to be supplemented with measures to enforce violations of the provisions in the sustainability chapter.
A motion aimed at ensuring that Malaysian products and raw materials do not originate from forced labor was also unsuccessful.
A referendum is likely to be called against the federal resolution. An alliance announced on Wednesday morning that it would take this step if Parliament does not adopt accompanying measures against deforestation and forced labor. However, the matter must still go through the final votes in both chambers on Friday.
