Swiss laws within the European galaxy – fact sheet

The European Union governs free trade within the European single market by means of a large number of ordinances. Member states have to adopt these into their national legislation. Switzerland had already voluntarily adopted these stipulations prior to the bilateral negotiations and so created a foundation to permit the free trade of goods with the EU states. In this fact sheet, we will show you how heavily interlinked our laws our with those of the EU.

As a manufacturer of machinery or components, three Swiss laws are particularly important for you. They are:

• the Federal Act on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBA)
• the Federal Act on Product Safety (ProdSA)
• the Federal Act on Weak and Heavy Current Electrical Installations (ElecA)

Each of these acts is at the centre of its own solar system, so to speak. Around them orbit various ordinances such as those on machine safety (MachineO) and electromagnetic compatibility (OEMC).

The list in the fact sheet is not exhaustive but clearly demonstrates how closely interlinked Swiss law and the ordinances of the EU are. Had we not adopted these specifications into our national law, trade within the European single market would be considerably more difficult.