G/TBT/N/CHE/198
13 August 2015
(15-4145)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: French
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Notifying Member: SWITZERLAND 
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible: Office fédéral de la sécurité alimentaire et des affaires vétérinaires , 
OSAV (Federal Office for Food Se curity and Veterinary Affairs) 
Name and address (including telephon e 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:  
Secrétariat d'Etat à l'économie , SECO (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) 
Holzikofenweg 36 3003 Berne 
Fax: +41 (0)58 464 09 58 
Email: tbt@seco.admin.ch  
Website: http://www.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): 
Miscellaneous articles and materials which, through their intended use, come into contact 
with external parts of the body, teeth or mucous membranes; instruments and ink 
products used for tattoos and permanent ma ke-up; jewellery, clothing, shoes, masks, 
headbands, childcare articles, candles, matches, lighters and joke articles 
5. Title, number of pages and lang uage(s) of the notified document: 
• Ordonnance sur les denrées alimentaires et les objets usuels  (ODAlOUs)  (Ordinance 
on food and basic commodities) (50 pages) 
• Ordonnance sur les objets destinés à entrer en contact avec les muqueuses, la peau 
ou le système pileux et capillaire, et sur les bougies, les allumettes, les briquets et 
les articles de farces et attrapes  (Ordinance on articles intended to come in contact 
with mucous membranes, skin and hair, an d on candles, matches, lighters and joke 
articles) (4 pages, in German, French and Italian) 
6. Description of content: General requirements regarding basic commodities have been 
established in a revised version of the Ordinance on food and basic commodities. Minor 
amendments have been made to requiremen ts concerning the release of chemical 
substances by articles that come into contact with the skin, hair or mucous membranes: 
• Requirements concerning cadmium apply only to the external parts of articles. 
• Provisions have been established for harmonization with the legislation of the main 
economic partner with regard to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (HAP) content. 
• Relevant standards relating to the fire resistance of textile products have been G/TBT/N/CHE/198 
- 2 - 
  amended. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: Further harmonize standards with the legislation of the main economic 
partner, minimize legal discrepancies with the European Union (EU), and ensure an 
equivalent level of safety in Switzerland. 
8. Relevant documents: The draft technical regulation can be downloaded from the 
complete draft revision of the legislation on food and basic commodities, which is available 
at: http://www.blv.admin.ch/dokumentation /01013/05845/05846/index.html?lang=fr  
9. Proposed date of adoption: July 2016 
Proposed date of entry into force: July 2016  
10. Final date for comments: 1 November 2015 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresse s, if available, of other body:  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2015/TBT/CHE/15_3126_00_f.pdf 
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2015/TBT/CHE/15_3126_01_f.pdf