"Due to the diverse economic ties between the two countries, negotiations to do with the new agreement will take some time," the department said in a statement.
The announcement came after a meeting in Berlin between Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and German counterpart Peer Steinbrueck ahead of a summit on Tuesday of ministers from OECD countries, where leaders are expected to pressure nations like Switzerland to step up efforts toward bank transparency .
A statement to be released following the Berlin meeting, jointly hosted by the German and French governments, will state whether countries on a "grey list" drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have made progress since last year.
At the meeting with Steinbrueck, Merz demanded that all states featured on the lists of the OECD and G20 be treated on the same terms and stressed that the Swiss government still rejected automatic exchange of information.
He outlined concerns at proposals to refuse market access to Swiss financial service providers in Germany and said he expected something in return for Switzerland's more relaxed stance on bank secrecy. Merz also said Switzerland would consider improvements in the Taxation of Savings Income Agreement with the EU.
Under pressure from the G20, Switzerland agreed in March to relax its prized bank secrecy and accepted for the first time to share certain bank client data with other jurisdictions once bilateral tax treaties were ratified.
Switzerland agreed its sixth double taxation treaty, with the United States, on Friday, taking a key step toward removal from the list of tax havens. Further agreements have been reached with France, Denmark, Norway, Mexico and Luxembourg.
Switzerland, whose private banks manage around $2 trillion (Dh7.34 trillion) of foreign wealth, aims to secure 12 new bilateral tax deals by the end of 2009 which could allow it to be removed from the list and avoid possible sanctions from G20 nations.
Swiss bankers support the adoption of OECD standards as quickly as possible but warn against further changes to Swiss bank secrecy.
"Pressure from high-tax countries on the protection of privacy will remain high, even with Switzerland introducing international standards on administrative assistance in tax matters," Patrick Odier, Chairman designate of the Swiss Bankers Association, told a press conference earlier on Monday.
Odier said the automatic exchange of information called for by some countries ran counter to the interests of citizens there.
"It also conflicts with the need for data protection, which is increasingly important in the Orwellian world in which we live," Odier said.
Merz had previously said Switzerland was in "no rush" to sign a new tax treaty with Germany, its most vocal critic.
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