. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/CHE/114 
30 July 2009  
 (09-3699) 
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 governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Federal Department of the Envi ronment, Transport, Energy and 
Communications (DETEC), CH-3003 Bern. 
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 
Non-tariff Measures Division  Effingerstrasse 1  CH-3003 Bern  Fax: 1141 31 324 09 58  
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):  New passenger cars. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft “Ordinance on 
the display of an eco-label on new passenger cars  (Eco-label ordinance, UEV)”, Draft July 
2009 (21 pages, available in Ge rman, French and Italian).  
6. Description of content:  The ordinance prescribes that new passenger cars which are offered 
for sale in Switzerland must, from 1 January 2011,  display an eco-label. The eco-label is an 
information tool for people when  purchasing a new car. The content of the current energy 
label based on the EC-directive 1999/94/EC will be integrated virtually unchanged to the 
future eco-labels and complimented with add itional information on environmental impact of 
the vehicle in the form of eco-points (EP). As part of the fundamental life cycle assessment, 
the resulting environmental impact of the passe nger car is calculated for every car type from 
its emissions based on the type te st data. The individual eco-po ints can then be added up to 
deliver an aggregate score. The lower the ec o-points, the smaller a car’s impact on the 
environment. On the basis of fuel efficiency and specific environmental impact limits, passenger cars are divided into di fferent eco-label categories.   G/TBT/N/CHE/114 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of the environment and the life and health of humans, animals and plants: 
Environmental pollution and the demand for fuel  from motorised passen ger transport remain 
unresolved problems in Switzerla nd today. The goal of the eco-label is to promote a more 
resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly fleet of pa ssenger cars in future. To help 
achieve this, the eco-label is to be introduced from 2011. It represents a tool for buyers of 
passenger cars which provides in formation about fuel consump tion, CO2 emissions and the 
environmental impact of a passenger car.  
8. Relevant documents:   Legal foundations: Energy Act (EnA) (SR 730.0), 16 pages, available 
in German, French and Italian ( http://www.admin.ch /ch/d/sr/c730_0.html ). Environmental 
Protection Act  (EPA) (SR 814.01), 44 pages, available in English, German, French and 
Italian (http://www.admin.ch/c h/e/rs/814_01/index.html).    
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    15 February 2010   
1 August 2010   
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from the day of notification.  
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [  ], or addre ss, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/ gg/pc/pendent.html#UVEK  
http://www.admin.ch/ch/ f/gg/pc/pendent.html  
http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/ gg/pc/pendent.html#DATEC   
And can be downloaded here in French , here in German,  and here in Italian.