National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct
The National Contact Point (NCP) promotes the observance of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprise on Responsible Business Conduct and discusses with the parties concerned all relevant issues so as to contribute to the resolution of any problems which might arise.
The OECD Guidelines are legally non-binding recommendations on responsible business conduct addressed by the governments of the 38 OECD member states as well as a dozen other states to multinational enterprises operating in or from their territories. They apply wherever multinational companies are involved in business activities. Each participating state is obliged to set up a National Contact Point, which is assigned the following duties:
- Raise awareness of the OECD Guidelines
- Promote the implementation
- Be available to advise in case of questions and queries as a platform for dialogue or non-judicial mediaton
- Collaborate and exchange information with other NCPs
- Submit annual reports on its activities during the annual meeting of NCPs at the OECD
The work of the NCP is one of SECO's three priorities for promoting responsible business conduct.
The NCP is tasked with promoting the implementation of the Guidelines and the OECD due diligence instruments for companies and raising awareness of them among stakeholders (business, NGOs, trade unions, academia, etc.). The long-term public relations concept with priorities for 2025 can be found here (PDF, 586 kB, 14.11.2024) (in German).
At their meeting on 22–23 May 2025, the National contact points from Germany, Austria and Switzerland decided to continue their successful cooperation and to pool their resources even more closely in future (see announcement).
On 5 November 2024, audit experts (Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems and Deloitte) and a company (Doppelmayr) discussed the significance of the due diligence obligations and the OECD Guidelines for the auditing and conformity assessment bodies, as well as instruments for effective risk management and the documentation on sustainability:
On 20 May 2025, companies (Energy Infrastructure Partners and Axpo Solar GmbH Germany) and an NGO (Society for Threatened Peoples Germany) discussed how to deal with the local population in the context of companies' foreign business activities (e.g. energy, construction or other large-scale projects): Event review (in German). (PDF, 238 kB, 08.07.2025)
Under the motto "Solutions for responsible business conduct", SECO State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda, Prof. Christine Kaufmann, company representatives and stakeholders from business, NGOs, trade unions and academia discussed the updated OECD Guidelines at the NCP event on 30 November 2023.
Short video promoting the work of the NCPs.
The Swiss government has commissioned an analysis of the implementation of due diligence procedures for responsible business conduct by Swiss companies. Click here (PDF, 12 MB, 01.12.2023) (in German) for the results of the study.
National Contact Point of Switzerland
In Switzerland, the NCP is located at the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) at the International Investment and Multinational Enterprises unit.
Lukas Siegenthaler, Head of the National Contact Point of Switzerland
Alex Kunze, National Contact Point of Switzerland
Nadja Meier, National Contact Point of Switzerland
Olivier Bovet, National Contact Point of Switzerland
