Facts
The Federal Act on the Promotion of Agriculture and the Preservation of the Farming Class (Agriculture Act) of October 3, 1951 authorizes the Federal Council to restrict the import of agricultural products quantitatively if their import endangers the sale of domestic products at reasonable prices. Based on this, the Federal Council has subjected the import of slaughter animals and meat to quotas and licensing requirements in the Ordinance on the Slaughter Animal Market and Meat Supply of December 30, 1953.
The so-called priority order provided for in this Ordinance, according to which the turnover achieved by the person entitled to import is taken into account to varying degrees depending on the classification of the business location when allocating the quota, is challenged as unconstitutional and illegal by a butchers' committee. The appellant, a butcher from Oberkulm, demands that his quota be calculated without applying the priority order.
Considerations
The Federal Court examines whether the priority order clearly exceeds the competence delegated to the Federal Council in the Agriculture Act. It finds that the conditions on the slaughter animal market have changed significantly since the Ordinance was issued, in particular due to the emergence of significant price differences between imported and domestic goods.
The Federal Court concludes that the priority order can no longer be…