G/TBT/N/CHE/218  
 
9 May 2017  
(17-2486) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member : SWITZERLAND   
If applicable, name of local government involved  (Article 3.2 and 7.2) :  
2. Agency responsible:  State Secretariat for Economic A ffairs SECO  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
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  
Holzikofenweg 36  
3003 Berne  
tbt@seco.admin.ch  
http://www.seco.admin.ch  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [X], 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):  Personal protective 
equipment PPE.  
5. Title, number of pages  and language(s)  of the notified docum ent: Draft of the 
Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council on the safety of p ersonal protective equipment 
(6 page(s), in German; 6 page(s), in French; 6 page(s), in Italian)    
6. Description of content:  The notified Draft of the Ordinance of the Swiss Feder al Council 
on the safety of personal protective equipment removes the existing provisions on 
personal protective equipment from The Federal ordinance of 19 May 2010 on Product 
Safety (RS 930.111) and brings them into a new ordinance.  
The notified Draft is part of a package of revisions harmonizing three Swiss ordinances 
with technical regulations of Switzerland’s main trading pa rtners. It is in line with the 
"New Legislative Framework " of the European Union.  
The proposal harmonizes definitions throughout th e Swiss legislation, clarifies obligations 
of manufacturers, authorized representatives and introduces obligations for importers and 
distributors. The proposal also defines requirements for conformity assessment bodies to 
guarantee a consistent level of qu ality for conformity assessment procedures.  
7. Objective and rationale , including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
Protection of human health or safety; The proposal aims to strengthen and complete the 
existing rules and to improve practica l aspects of their application and enforcement. It will 
thus increase health, safety and user protection.  G/TBT/N/CHE/218  
 
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  8. Relevant documents:   
 Draft of the Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council on the safety of personal 
protective equipment. (see attachments)  
 The Fed eral ordinance of 19 May 2010 on Product Safety (RS 930.111), which 
contains the paragraphs for PPE, available in:  French ; German  and Italian .  
9. Proposed date of adoption: 21 April 2018  
Proposed date of entry into force: 21 April 2018  
10. Final  date for comments:  60 days from notification  
11. Texts available from : National enquiry point  [X] or address, telephone and fax 
number s and e mail and website address es, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/TBT/CHE/17_1948_00_f.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/TBT/ CHE/17_1948_00_x1.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/TBT/CHE/17_1948_00_x2.pdf