. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CHE/37 
29 July 2004 
 (04-3269) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   SWITZERLAND
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:   Federal Office of Pub lic Health;  CH-3003 Berne 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Foods derived from genetically modified organisms. 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Countries exporting the produc ts concerned to Switzerland.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Draft Modification to 
Food Ordinance of 1 March 1995 (available  in German and French;  3 pages). 
6. Description of content:  The draft provisions concerning foods derived from genetically 
modified organisms are to implement the Federal Law Relating to Non-human Gene 
Technology (Gene Technology Law), in force since 1 January 2004. 
The proposed amendments are: 
Any person handling GMOs for food use mu st notify the recipient and provide a 
documentation;  the documents should allow for product tracing. 
Any person handling GMOs for food use must ta ke appropriate measures to prevent co-
mingling of GMOs with non-GMOs. 
Labelling of GMO-derived foods must a ssure consumers' freedom of choice. 
The same notification has also been submitte d in the framework of the TBT Agreement. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, 
[  ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ]  protect territory from other 
damage from pests 
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[ X ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  Codex Alimentarius Commission, Principles for 
the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology, CAC/GL 44/2003;  with 
respect to documentation requirement. G/SPS/N/CHE/37 
Page 2  
 
 9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Federal Law of 
21 March 2003 Relating to Non-human Gene  Technology (Gene Technology Law, RS 
814.91);  Available in French, German and Italian: http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c814_91.html
 
Food Ordinance of 1 March 1995 (RS 817.02);  Available in French, German and Italian: 
http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c817_02.html  
10. Proposed date of adoption:   November 2004 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   1 January 2005 
12. Final date for comments:  30 September 2004 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   sps@seco.admin.ch  
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: