. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CHE/49 
12 January 2006 
 (06-0151) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  SWITZERLAND
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Federal Office of Pub lic Health, CH-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):  Transplant products  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Countries exporting to Sw itzerland the products concerned or th e original materi al in order to 
manufacture transplant products.  
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Ordinance concerning 
the transplantation of human organs, tissu es and cells and Ordinance concerning the 
transplantation of animal organs, tissues and cells (Available in German/French; 
32/16 pages)  
6. Description of content:  According to article 49 of the Transplantation Law some 
regulations of the Law on Therapeutic Produc ts are applicable in a general manner in 
addition to the rules of the Transplantation Law.   Transplant products as well as therapeutic 
products are approved by the Swiss Agency for th erapeutic products and this organization is 
also responsible for inspections in the area of  transplant products.  The Transplantation 
Ordinance prescribes within the area of appli cability which rules are applicable to the 
contact with organs, tissues and cells which sh all be used for the production of transplant 
products.  Animal transplant products are also approved by the Swiss Agency for 
therapeutic products.  The guarantee of the prot ection against infection however falls into 
the sphere of responsibility of the Swi ss Federal Office of Public Health.  
7. Objective and rationale: [   ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] 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,  [   ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   G/SPS/N/CHE/49 
Page 2  
 
  9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   
Federal Law of 8 October 2004 concerning the tr ansplantation of organs, tissues and cells 
(transplantation law; SR 810.21) French: http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/ff/2004/5115.pdf
 
German: http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/d/ff/2004/5453.pdf  
Italian: http://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/i/ff/2004/4821.pdf  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  November 2006 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  1 January 2007 
12. Final date for comments:  30 June 2006 
The same notification has also been submitte d in the framework of the TBT Agreement. 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point,  or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:  sps@seco.admin.ch 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notifi cation authority, [   ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: