Swiss Public Statistics CharterIntroduction

In the preamble on page 1, the charter refers to the Basic Principles of Official Statistics in the area covered by the United Nations European Economic Commission (April 1992) and to the Declaration on Professional Ethics of the International Statistical Insitute (August 1985). Reference is also made to the European Statistics Code of Practice (February 2005), aimed in particular at the FSO and other statistical bodies entrusted with the production and dissemination of European statistics.

The basic principles of the Charter are detailed on pages 2–4.

An Ethics Board of Swiss Public Statistics is appointed by the Public Statistics Section (SSS-O) of the Swiss Statistical Society at the request of the Federal Statistics Office (FSO) and the Swiss Conference of Regional Statistical Offices (CORSTAT). The purpose of the Board is to contribute to the promotion of the basic principles of the Charter and to encourage their implementation. The regulations of the Ethics Board are approved or amended by the SSS-O. The FSO and CORSTAT must also give their approval.