New specification sheet clarifies rules for farm distilleries

The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) published a revised specification sheet for farmers on 1 November 2026. Behind the general-sounding title lie rules for agricultural spirits production. It is not a new compendium of all management requirements for Swiss farms.

Version 1.1 replaces the specification sheet of June 2020 and applies from 1 November 2026. According to the table of changes, the document was edited and restructured. A separate chapter consolidates the requirements for home distilleries. The definition of the distillery property and the calculation of the tax-free personal requirement have also been clarified. The table describes these points as explanations and reorganisation; no blanket tightening of alcohol law can be derived from it.

Status depends on the holding and on the raw materials

For recognition under alcohol law, the BAZG cites a qualifying usable area of at least one hectare. For speciality crops, 50 ares are enough; for vines on steep and terraced sites, 30 ares. Within this framework, only produce grown on land the farmer cultivates, or domestic wild fruit the farmer has gathered, may be processed.

Production can take place in the farm's own home distillery or through a contract distillery. According to the BAZG's explanations, an agricultural distillery licence is tied to an existing facility and to the distillery property. If ownership changes, the new operator must meet the conditions. Buying a farm therefore does not mean that any new facility may simply be operated.

Anyone distilling on the farm must apply for approval via alco-dec before the distillation run and wait for it to be granted. Production may only take place within the approved period. The new version consolidates these requirements in the chapter on home distilleries. During distillation, those responsible must be able to give the BAZG information about raw materials already processed and the quantities of spirits obtained from them.

The calculation is in pure alcohol

The tax-free personal requirement is made up of several holding characteristics. A worked example based on the new table: eight hectares of ordinary agricultural usable area yield ten litres of pure alcohol. Two people permanently working on the holding contribute five litres between them; 50 high-stem fruit trees add another five litres. That comes to 20 litres of pure alcohol, arithmetically 50 litres of a spirit at 40 percent by volume. The example assumes that the other conditions are met.

This unit is also decisive for the tax. According to the BAZG, the standard rate is 29 francs per litre of pure alcohol. One litre of fruit brandy at 40 percent by volume therefore carries 11.60 francs of spirits tax. The retail price of the bottle is not the basis for this quantity-based tax. Not every quantity produced or stored becomes tax-free: the exemption applies to the necessary personal requirement in household and holding.