Switzerland | Amendments to Ordinance on organic farming and the labelling of organically produced products and foodstuffs

Title of document
Amendments to: Ordinance on organic farming and the labelling of organically produced products and foodstuffs (Organic Farming Ordinance) (910.18) (2 pages in French); Ordinance of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) on organic farming (910.181) (6 pages in French); Ordinance of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) on organic farming (new) (19 pages in French).

Description
Organic Farming Ordinance (SR 910.18): Since the organic equivalence determination process for bilateral arrangements is led by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), in future the competence for the inclusion of the countries in the list of countries shall fall under the responsability of FOA and not of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) any longer (Article 23 (1)).  The approval procedure for control bodies and inspection authorities in third countries should only be used in special cases. For EU recognised bodies and authorities this shall be abandoned altogether (Article 23a (1-4), Article 24 (5 & 6)). EAER Ordinance on Organic Farming (SR 910.181): Repeal of Article 4 and Annex 4 concerning country lists and Article 4a and Annex 4a concerning the list of certification bodies following the proposed amendments to the Organic Farming Ordinance. Minor amendments to annexes 1-3. FOAG Ordinance on Organic Farming (new): FOAG administers the list of countries (Article 1) and the list of certification bodies in third countries (Article 2) following the proposed amendments to the Organic Farming Ordinance.

Notifying member: Switzerland

Notification: G/TBT/N/CHE/243

Objective tag
Other

Objective
Delegation of administrative competencies; minor formal modifications.

Documents

• 20_1180_00_f.pdf
• 20_1180_01_f.pdf
• 20_1180_02_f.pdf

Agency responsible
Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG

Timing:

• Submission: 13/02/2020
• Reception: 13/02/2020
• Distribution: 13/02/2020
• Final date for comments: 10/05/2020
• Proposed date of adoption: N/A