. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CHE/43 
30 May 2005 
 (05-2179) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   French 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  SWITZERLAND  
If applicable, name of local government involved:        
2. Agency responsible:  Federal Office of Public Health, Federal Veterinary Office, Federal 
Office for Agriculture;  3003 Berne  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Food, feedstuffs  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
trading partners 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:        
Ordinance on Food and Articles for Everyday Use (ODAIOU) 
DFI (Federal Department of the Interior) Ordinance on Hygiene (OHyg) DFI Ordinance on the Labelling and Advertising of Food (OEDAI) DFI Ordinance on the Implementation of Legislation Concerning Food 
DFI Ordinance on Food of Animal Origin (ODAIAn) 
Ordinance on Animal Slaughtering and Meat Control (OAbCV) DFE (Federal Department of the Economy) Or dinance on Hygiene in Animal Slaughtering 
Ordinance on Primary Production (OPro) DFE Ordinance on Hygiene in Primary Production 
DFE Ordinance Regulating Hygiene in Diary Production 
Amendment of the Ordinance on Feedstuffs Amendment of the Ordinance on the Book of Feedstuffs  Available in French, German and Italian 
6. Description of content:  The revision provides for reorganization of the ordinances issued 
under the Food Act, with a view to harmonizi ng the Swiss provisions with EU law.  The 
main changes concern: 
- Compulsory food tracing based on the one step forward, one step back system; 
- compulsory documentation of self-regulation; - compulsory identification and/or health marking of food of animal origin; - importation of food of animal origin only from countries with hygiene standards 
matching those of Switzerland; 
- requirement for persons manufacturing, processing, transferring, importing or 
exporting food to inform the implementing authorities of their activities; G/SPS/N/CHE/43 
Page 2  
 
 6. Description of content:  (cont'd) 
- regulation of arrangements for (risk -based) food control arrangements, 
documentation of control procedures, ca rrying out of systematic audits in 
enterprises subject to authorization; 
- adaptation of the provisions concerning declaration of foods that may trigger 
allergies or allergic reactions.  
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: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [ X ] None If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:        
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  
 Federal Law of 9 October 1992 on Food and Articles for Everyday Use ("Food 
Act", LDAI;  RS 817.0) http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c817_0.html 
 Federal Law of 29 April 1998 on Agriculture  ("Agriculture Act", Lagr;  RS 910.1) 
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c910_1.html  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  November 2005  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  1 January 2006  
12. Final date for comments:  15 July 2005  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [    ] National notification 
authority, [  X ] National enquiry point, or add ress, 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:  
 The texts notified are available in French, German and Italian at:  
www.lm-revisionen.admin.ch