https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed In Switzerland this looks like a steal of a deal: a three-level house divided into three spacious apartments close to cross-country skiing and hiking trails for just 450,000 francs ($464,000). https://www.thelocal.ch/20151005/government-sells-off-border-homes-at-bargain-prices Mon, 05 Oct 2015 14:03:58 +0200 government-sells-off-border-homes-at-bargain-prices Swiss import duties designed to protect the domestic economy can be a killjoy for ‘shopping tourists’ in Switzerland seeking bargains across the border or online. But Emily Rose Mawson discovers there are ways to avoid paying through the nose for those purchases from abroad. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150901/getting-the-lowdown-on-cross-border-shopping-duties Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:11:01 +0200 getting-the-lowdown-on-cross-border-shopping-duties A father and son team from the canton of Fribourg operating a food truck were snared by border guards in Geneva for illegally importing hundreds of kilograms of meat, food and drink from France — and for possession of 35 pot plants. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150818/meat-and-drinks-imported-illegally-for-food-truck Tue, 18 Aug 2015 22:22:31 +0200 meat-and-drinks-imported-illegally-for-food-truck A large haul of ivory, worth more than $400,000 on the black market, was seized at Zurich airport last month on its way from Tanzania to China, the Federal Customs Administration said on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150804/customs-nabs-suitcases-of-ivory-at-zurich-airport Tue, 04 Aug 2015 13:47:12 +0200 customs-nabs-suitcases-of-ivory-at-zurich-airport Swiss Border Guards rolled out a 40-tonne excavator in Geneva on Tuesday to destroy hundreds of counterfeit pots and pans bearing the mark of Switzerland’s red cross. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150616/border-guards-destroy-tonne-of-fake-pots-and-pans Tue, 16 Jun 2015 21:31:15 +0200 border-guards-destroy-tonne-of-fake-pots-and-pans A 54-year-old British man is in detention after being caught at Geneva airport with four suitcases containing 90 kilograms of khat, cantonal police said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150308/brit-caught-with-90-kg-of-khat-in-suitcases Sun, 08 Mar 2015 21:14:34 +0100 brit-caught-with-90-kg-of-khat-in-suitcases Switzerland’s exports hit a record in 2014, expanding by 3.5 percent from the previous year to reach 208 billion francs ($225 billion), according to government figures released on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150203/swiss-exports-hit-new-record-in-2015 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 16:21:00 +0100 swiss-exports-hit-new-record-in-2015 An owner of restaurants in the Rheintal region of the canton of Saint Gallen is facing criminal charges for illegally importing 38 tons of food and drink into Switzerland from Austria, customs officials said on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150122/restaurateur-caught-smuggling-38-tons-of-food Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:27:00 +0100 restaurateur-caught-smuggling-38-tons-of-food A terracotta statue dating back to about 200 BC has been returned to the Chinese authorities after being intercepted by customs in Switzerland, the Swiss government said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141212/swiss-confiscate-chinese-statue-sent-from-uk Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:40:00 +0100 swiss-confiscate-chinese-statue-sent-from-uk A Frenchman living in Switzerland was caught entering the country from France with unusual contraband in his suitcase: 16 kilograms of meat from exotic species native to the African jungle. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140423/border-agents-seize-armadillo-and-crocodile-meat Wed, 23 Apr 2014 21:22:00 +0200 border-agents-seize-armadillo-and-crocodile-meat Bucking concerns over the strong franc, Swiss exports showed “Olympic form” in February, jumping 7.1 percent over the same month a year earlier to 17 billion francs ($19.2 billion), a government report said on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140320/swiss-exports-show-olympic-form-trade-figures Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:57:00 +0100 swiss-exports-show-olympic-form-trade-figures Swiss customs officials have moved to discourage a flourishing cross-border trade from neighbouring Germany — in pizzas. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140203/swiss-customs-head-off-pizza-invasion Mon, 03 Feb 2014 13:52:00 +0100 swiss-customs-head-off-pizza-invasion Swiss customs made a surprising discovery when checking a bus heading to Romania from Lausanne at the city’s bus station. https://www.thelocal.ch/20131029/hundreds-of-stolen-items-found-on-bus Tue, 29 Oct 2013 11:08:00 +0100 hundreds-of-stolen-items-found-on-bus Swiss customs agents at the Zurich airport seized one million fake tablets of anti-anxiety drug Xanax that were destined for Egypt, authorities said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20131018/customs-seize-crates-of-fake-anti-anxiety-drugs Fri, 18 Oct 2013 14:39:00 +0200 customs-seize-crates-of-fake-anti-anxiety-drugs Swiss customs agents confiscated 1.3 tonnes’ worth of fake watches at Zurich international airport over a recent five-day period. https://www.thelocal.ch/20130930/customs-seizes-5000-phoney-watches-in-zurich Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:40:00 +0200 customs-seizes-5000-phoney-watches-in-zurich During a routine check at a border crossing, Swiss customs officers made an unexpected discovery: 35 brightly coloured rare frogs and a gecko hidden in the boot of a taxi. https://www.thelocal.ch/20130926/rare-frogs-seized-in-taxi-at-swiss-border Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:10:00 +0200 rare-frogs-seized-in-taxi-at-swiss-border Swiss vintners are fuming over a proposed easing of restrictions on how much duty-free wine you can import into Switzerland. https://www.thelocal.ch/20130722/swiss-wine-producers-see-red-over-duty-free-plan Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:53:00 +0200 swiss-wine-producers-see-red-over-duty-free-plan Swiss border guards in the canton of Jura got an unexpected surprise recently when they discovered four royal pythons in the boot of a car. https://www.thelocal.ch/20130528/border-guards-seize-pythons-at-french-border Wed, 29 May 2013 00:23:00 +0200 border-guards-seize-pythons-at-french-border