Article 1 
The Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the revision of the Agreement on mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation is hereby approved on behalf of the Community. The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.
Article 2 
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Agreement in order to bind the Community.
Article 3 
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to transmit on behalf of the European Community the diplomatic note provided for in Article 2 of the Agreement. Done at Brussels, 19 December 2006. For the Council The President J. KORKEAOJA Done at Brussels, 19 December 2006. For the Council The President J. KORKEAOJA For the Council The President J. KORKEAOJA THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND THE SWISS CONFEDERATION, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’, Having concluded an Agreement on mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’; WHEREAS the Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2002; WHEREAS there is a need to simplify the operation of the Agreement; WHEREAS the Agreement in Articles 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 refers to conformity assessment bodies listed in Annex 1; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 2 refers to definitions laid down in the 1996 edition of ISO/IEC Guide 2 and in the 1993 edition of the European standard EN 45020; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 4 restricts the application of the Agreement to products that originate in the Parties according to non-preferential rules of origin; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 6 refers to the procedures set out in Article 11; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 8 refers to the Chairman of the Committee; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 9 refers to coordination and comparison work between conformity assessment bodies recognised under the Agreement; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 10 establishes a Committee that decides on the inclusion of conformity assessment bodies in Annex 1 and on their removal from Annex 1; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 11 sets out a procedure for the inclusion of conformity assessment bodies in Annex 1 and their removal from Annex 1; WHEREAS the Agreement in Article 12 sets out obligations for information exchange; CONSIDERING that in order to reflect the changes introduced to Article 11 of the Agreement, the term ‘conformity assessment bodies listed in Annex 1’ should be deleted and replaced by a reference to the ‘recognised conformity assessment bodies’ in Articles 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11; CONSIDERING that in order to avoid the need to modify the Agreement when changes are introduced to the definitions in the relevant ISO/IEC guides, the reference to specific editions of these guides should be deleted from Article 2 and replaced by a general reference to definitions laid down by ISO and IEC; CONSIDERING that since the reference to the definitions laid down in European standards 45020 (1993 edition) is no longer valid, the reference should be deleted from Article 2; CONSIDERING that in order to facilitate trade between the Parties, and to simplify the operation of the Agreement, the restriction to apply the Agreement to products that originate in the Parties should be deleted from Article 4; CONSIDERING that in order to simplify the Agreement, certain provisions of Article 6 should be deleted in order to avoid duplication with corresponding provisions set out in Article 11; CONSIDERING that in order to reflect that the Committee is co-chaired by the Parties, the reference to the Chairman of the Committee should be deleted from Article 8; CONSIDERING that in order to facilitate trade between the Parties, and to ensure transparency in the operation of the Agreement, an obligation to indicate possible suspensions of recognised conformity assessment bodies in the list of recognised conformity assessment bodies should be included in Article 8; CONSIDERING that in order to facilitate the functioning of the Agreement, the need for designating authorities to use their best endeavours to ensure that recognised conformity assessment bodies cooperate in an appropriate way should be included in Article 9; CONSIDERING that in order to simplify the operation of the Agreement, the need for the Committee to take decisions on the recognition or withdrawal of recognition of conformity assessment bodies should be limited to cases that have been contested by the other Party should be included in Article 10; CONSIDERING that in order to simplify the operation of the Agreement, a simpler procedure for the recognition, withdrawal of recognition, modification of the scope, and suspension of conformity assessment bodies should be set up in Article 11; CONSIDERING that in order to increase transparency, an obligation to notify in writing changes related to relevant legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions as well as to designating authorities and competent authorities should be added in Article 12, HAVE AGREED TO REVISE THE AGREEMENT AS FOLLOWS: