The Swiss authorities monitor the development of international and in particular the European chemicals legislation. They evaluate them in regard to possible required adaptations of Swiss law.
European chemicals legislation
The Federal Council has resolved to harmonise Swiss Chemicals legisla-tion with that of the EU. The principal reasons for this are:
- to avoid barriers to trade
- to ensure a high level of protection for man and the environment
- adjustments in the light of technical progress
- to avoid animal experimentation
The current legal provisions applicable to chemicals take account of the European regulations in the following versions:
| Ordinance | Status of harmonisation |
|---|---|
| ChemO as at 01.09.2024 |
REACH Regulation last modified by Regulation (EU) 2022/477 (Annex VI - X REACH) [see Annex 4 ChemO] and CLP-Regulation last modified by Regulation (EU) 2024/197 (21th ATP) [see Annex 2.1 ChemO]. Annex 3 ChemO takes into account the SVHC candidate list of the ECHA last modified by the decision ECHA D(2023)8585-DC. |
OBP
|
EU-Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR; Regulation (EU) 528/2012) last modified by Regulation (EU) 334/2014. |
Implementing Ordinance-Biocidal Products FDHA
|
Implements the implementation acts up to (EU) 2016/1802. |
The drafts and decisions of the development of REACH, CLP and BPR which have not yet been implemented into Swiss Law are described in the document Follow-up EU Legislation. The document can be found on this page under ‘Documentation’.
An overview of the various adaptations to technical progress (ATP) of the CLP Regulation and their implementation into Chemicals legislation is found here:
Recommendations of the OECD
The recommendations and decisions of the OECD on test methods and good laboratory practice are contained in the legislative provisions on chemical products. Their adoption allows mutual recognition of data (Mutual Acceptance of Data, MAD). MAD avoids repeated testing of chemicals and helps to reduce the number of tests with animals used for experimentation.
Recommendations of the United Nations
The Globally Harmonised System of the United Nations for classifying and labelling (GHS) is used in Switzerland exactly as in the EU. The Swiss provisions for the classification and labelling of chemicals are based on the European CLP Regulation.
Last modification 04.09.2024
