Special regulations apply to food products under the Cassis de Dijon principle. Foods that do not comply in full with the Swiss regulations may only be sold in Switzerland if they have been authorised by the FSVO.
According to the Cassis de Dijon principle, products that are marketed in the EU may also be marketed in Switzerland, even if they do not comply with Swiss technical regulations. However, this does arrangement does not apply to food products.
The FSVO must authorise any food product that is approved in the EU but does not comply with Swiss regulations before it can be placed on the market in Switzerland. Authorisation is granted in the form of a general ruling once it has been established that the food product in question is not harmful to health and that the contents correspond to the stated product information (protection against falsification).
Authorisation procedure
Domestic and foreign importers and foreign manufacturers of food products can submit applications. Swiss manufacturers who have a product manufactured abroad and want to market it in Switzerland must also submit an application.
Application forms and further information can be found under “More information”.
More information
Authorisation procedure
Applications
Rejected applications
Pending applications
General rulings
Restriction of European law – utility articles
In the interests of consumer protection, the FSVO and the Federal Office of Public Health have issued the following restrictive general rulings on the following substances, preparations or products:
Last modification 08.12.2017