. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CHE/35 
5 February 2004 
 (04-0409) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   SWITZERLAND
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:   Federal Office for Agriculture, CH-3003 Berne 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Wood and wood packaging material ci rculating under Chapter 44 (Headings 
HS 4401, 4402, 4403, 4404, 4406, 4407, 4415, 4416) and Heading 9406 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Countries exporting the produc ts concerned to Switzerland 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Ordinance on the 
Protection of Plants – Draft Modification of the Federal Department for Economic Affairs 
(Available in French, 26 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The current provisions governing the import into Switzerland of 
woods and wood products are proposed  to be amended.  In particular, the relevant provisions 
of the Ordinance on Plant Protection for wood p ackaging material would be aligned with the 
provisions of the FAO International Standa rd for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on 
Guidelines for regulating wood packagi ng material in international trade . 
Other amendments are proposed as regards: 
- wood originating in countries where Bursaphelenchus xylophilus  (Steiner et Bührer) 
Nickle et al. is known to occur; 
- wood originating in Russia, Kazakhstan a nd Turkey and other countries, excepted 
member States of the European Communities; 
- isolated bark of conifers; 
- the provisions against Cryphonectria parasitica  (Murrill.) Barr;  and 
- changes in the tariff and statistical nomenclature and the Customs Tariff. 
These amended provisions are of interest for countries exporting the relevant wood or wood 
products to Switzerland. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [ X ] plant protection, 
[  ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ]  protect territory from other 
damage from pests G/SPS/N/CHE/35 
Page 2  
 
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health, 
[ X ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly id entify deviations:  This regulatory amendment is consistent with 
the standards, guidelines a nd recommendations of the International Plant Protection 
Convention of the Food and Agricultural Or ganization of the United Nations, and in 
particular, the International Standard  for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for 
regulating wood packaging material in international trade . 
9. Relevant documents and language(s ) in which these are available:  Ordinance of 
28 February 2001 on the Protection of Plants (a vailable in French/Ger man/Italian, current 
version):  http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c916_20.html  
10. Proposed date of adoption:   10 March 2004 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   1 July 2004 
12. Final date for comments:  1 March 2004 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notificati on authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  switec@snv.ch 
 
 