Self-regulation

The responsibility and liability for correctly placing the majority of chemical products on the market lies entirely with the relevant manufacturers. The principle of self-regulation applies; there are no prior regulatory controls.

Self-regulation means on the one hand that there are no regulatory controls prior to placing chemical products on the market and marketing them, and on the other hand the responsibility and liability for correctly observing the self-regulation lies entirely with the relevant manufacturer. In the context of self-regulation the manufacturer must assess whether human life or health or the environment may be endangered by the chemical products placed on the market. Prior to self-regulation it should be clarified whether or not an authorisation as a biocidal product, a notification or registration of a new substance, an authorisation as a plant protection product or notification of a parallel imported plant protection product is required for the product.

For their chemical products the “manufacturer” (manufacturer, importer, certain dealers) must, in the context of the self-regulation, meet the corresponding regulations in regard to:

classification
packaging
if necessary labelling (hazardous and certain other chemical products)
if necessary compiling a safety data sheet (hazardous and certain other chemical products)
if necessary preparing exposure scenarios (substances with annual volumes greater than 10 tonnes per manufacturer).

The self-regulation is a continuous process because new findings, adaptations of legislation, modifications to provisions for substances, etc. need to be taken into consideration up to the end of the particular transition period set for the change.

The Swiss Chemicals Legislation is largely harmonised with the European Chemicals Legislation in regard to classification, packaging, labelling and the regulations for safety data sheets. Various guides with in-depth explanations are available for these topics.