. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/CHE/39 
5 March 2004 
 (04-0985) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English 
   
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   SWITZERLAND
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:    
Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape 
Air Pollution Control and NIR division Dr. Manon Delisle CH-3003 Berne 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:    
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs  seco/WHNT 
Effingerstrasse 1 
CH-3003 Berne 
Phone: ++41 31 324 07 60; Fax: ++41 31 324 09 59; e-mail: tbt@seco.admin.ch 
      
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Diesel passenger cars 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Ordinance on 
the determination of the particle number emi ssion level of passenger cars with compression 
ignition engines; (available in German and English; 8 pages) 
6. Description of content:    
The draft ordinance stipulates that with effect from 1 January 2006, diesel passenger cars 
may only be placed on the Swiss market and pu t into service if they do not exceed the 
maximum particle number emission level of 1011/km. The new limit value of the particle 
number applies to the total of all partic les in the 20 to 500 nanometer range, and 
supplements the EURO 4 limit value of the pa rticle mass until the introduction of a EURO 5 
limit value for particle number and mass. The proposed Swiss procedure for measuring the particle number emission level is based on th e initial findings of the ECE-GRPE “Particle 
Measurement Programme (PMP)” experts’ group,  and is to be definitively defined by 31 
December 2004. The tests need to be perform ed either by a recognised Swiss technical 
service or a foreign technical service that is  recognised for carrying out exhaust gas 
emission tests in accordance with the relevant EC E regulations or EC directives. All foreign 
test reports shall be presented to a recognised Swiss technical service, which shall verify its G/TBT/N/CHE/39 
Page 2  
 
compliance with the Swiss requirements and, if this is the case, issue a certificate of 
compliance. Type approval will only be granted on the basis of a certificate issued by a recognised Swiss technical service. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Diesel cars emit up to a thousand times more l ung-penetrating particles than similar-sized 
petrol cars. These particles have a negative im pact on human health: they are carcinogenic, 
cause diseases of the cardiovascu lar system and lead to greater susceptibility to diseases of 
the respiratory tract, as well as to  reduced capacity of the lungs. Particle filters reduce such 
emissions from diesel cars by more than 90% and are currently state-of-the-art technology. 
Numerous diesel models equipped with particle  filters will be available on the market by 
2006. As the best available technology will pr obably only be required for compliance with 
EURO 5 standard from 2010 onwards, Switzerland is  examining - at the request of one of 
the two Parliamentary environment commissions  - the introduction of a maximum particle 
number emission level with effect from 1 January 2006.       
8. Relevant documents:    
Legal bases: 
Federal Law relating to the Protection of the Environment http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c814_01.html
 (LPE) 
Ordinance on Air Pollution Control (OPair) 
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c814_318_142_1.html    
Federal Road Traffic Act (LCR) http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_01.html
 
Ordinance on the Technical Requirements for Road Vehicles (OETV) http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_41.html
 
Ordinance on  the Technical Requirements for Motor Vehicles and their Trailers (OETV1) 
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_412.html  
Ordinance on the Type Approval of Motor Vehicles (ORT) http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_511.html
.  
 
9. Proposed date of adoption:     31 December 2004 
Proposed date of entry into force:   1 January 2006        
10. Final date for comments:    60 days from the day of notification. 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body: