Foundations of technical barriers to trade

Switzerland aims to effectively reduce technical barriers to trade and facilitate market access for companies. To this end, a clear legal framework is in place, complemented by international agreements and providing guidance to businesses.

Goods traffic at the Port of Basel Container — © Photopress

Switzerland has three instruments to reduce technical barriers to trade:

• the autonomous harmonisation of Swiss technical regulations with those of the most important trade partners;
• the conclusion of international agreements to this effect; and
• the autonomous application of the “Cassis de Dijon principle”.

All three instruments are based on the Federal Law on Technical Barriers to Trade (in German).

The multilateral agreements of the WTO set out the international framework for the prevention and reduction of technical barriers to trade (TBT and SPS agreements). Switzerland also aims to further reduce technical barriers to trade through its bilateral free trade agreements.

An overview of the Swiss technical regulations and measures to facilitate imports based on international agreements or the “Cassis de Dijon principle” can be found on SECO's Import Platform.

Example of a technical barrier to trade

A technical barrier to trade occurs whenever a product meets all the regulations of market A but cannot access market B either because market B has different requirements, it applies identical requirements in a different way or it does not recognise the conformity assessment conducted in country A.

To give a practical example for a technical barrier to trade, consider the following case. Today, a lift built according to Swiss regulations, cannot be installed as such in a building in the USA. The Swiss provisions regulate solely the generally formulated essential requirements the products must meet (e.g. users’ safety). Any Swiss manufacturer - or EU, for that matter - decides independently how to meet those requirements, only having to show that they have indeed been met. This is presumed when the product was manufactured in line with product-specific technical standards (conformity assumption according to Federal Law on Product Safety art. 5, par. 2). In the USA, however, the product must meet the detailed US-specific technical regulations. They determine, for example, the minimal cable diameter. If the Swiss manufacturer uses several thinner cables, the lift does not meet American regulations and must be adapted.

To lower the trade barrier in this example, a first step would be to harmonise the Swiss and American product regulations. This would save the manufacturer costs because they would not have to design two different lift series. However, even if the regulations were harmonised, the conformity of the lift would still need to be assessed twice: once according to Swiss and once according to American technical regulations (double conformity assessment). In a second step, Switzerland and the USA could then mutually recognise their assessment results, provided they are conducted by a recognised conformity assessment body. In such a case, there would be no need for a double conformity assessment.

Further information

• Links

  • WTO
  • EFTA