State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
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Switzerland - USA
Joint Declaration of the Swiss Confederation and the United States of America on Cooperation and Promotion regarding Electronic Commerce
In this joint declaration, Switzerland and the USA state their intention to facilitate and encourage electronic commerce, prevent possible discriminatory measures, guarantee users a higher degree of legal certainty and establish the necessary climate of trust and confidence for electronic transactions. The two parties declare their desire to work together in this regard within the World Trade Organization and other relevant international organisations, as well as to continue their cooperation at the bilateral level.
Last modification: 06.11.2008 | Size: 121 kb | Type: PDF
This joint declaration on e-commerce was developed under the Swiss-US Cooperation Forum on Trade and Investment.
Following up on the works on the Joint Declaration, Switzerland and the United States have signed an exchange of letters, establishing the "Swiss-U.S. Safe Harbour Framework" on December 9, 2008. This safe harbour has come into force on February 16, 2009.
This is a bilateral frame for the protection of data, which simplifies the transfer of personal data established by enterprises located in Switzerland and sent to enterprises located in the United States. It does not ony simplify the administrational procedures for the enterprises, but reinforces the rights of data protection of the concerned persons. Effectively, enterprises located in the United States and registered in the "Swiss-U.S. Safe Harbour Framework" engage to respect an adequate protection, and enterprises located in Switzerland do not have to negotiate contracts with the American enterprises. Beyond that, the Swiss enterprises do not need to communicate their data transfers to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner anymore.
Exchange of letters, establishing the "Swiss-U.S. Safe Harbour Framework":
Enterprises in the United States can self-certify themselves online on the internet site of the United States Department of Commerce, relating to the "Swiss-U.S. Safe Harbour Framework":
These enterprises can be found listed under the following link:
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