Legal bases and requirements

The legal requirements for marketing GMOs can be found in the corresponding product legislation (product-specific requirements), and in:

Authorisation and moratorium

Marketing of GMOs requires a federal licence. There is a 5-year moratorium to 27 November 2010 on cultivating GMOs in agriculture, silviculture or horticulture. This time-limited ban was approved by popular referendum 27.11.2005 and is set down in Art.197 number 7 of the Federal Constitution.

On 1 July 2009 the Federal Council decided to propose to Parliament an extension of the moratorium to 2013, presenting Dispatch on the amendment to the Gene Technology Act.

Competence

Competence for issuing licences and the applicable authorisation procedure depend on the product category (intended use of the GMOs). Competence and procedures are regulated in Article 26 of the Release Ordinance:

Plant propagation material for forestry:

• Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN): no authorisations issued as yet
• Applications should be submitted to: Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Biotechnology and Substance Flows Section, 3003 Bern, Tel. 031 322 93 49, e-mail: contact.releases@bafu.admin.ch

Other applications:

• Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN): no authorisations issued as yet
• Applications should be submitted to: Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Biotechnology and Substance Flows Section, 3003 Bern, Tel. 031 322 93 49, e-mail: contact.releases@bafu.admin.ch

Authorised products in Switzerland (as of 14 August 2009)

The following genetically modified organisms are currently authorised in Switzerland:

• 3 maize varieties and 1 soy variety as food and animal feed
• 1 vaccine each for cats and horses as Immunobiological veterinary medicines