Ordinance on the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Chemicals in International Trade (ChemPICO)

(PIC Ordinance, ChemPICO)

Preamble

The Swiss Federal Council,

based on Article 19 paragraph 2 letters a and d and Art. 38 of the Chemicals Act of 15 December 2000¹ (ChemA)
and Articles 29 and 39, paragraph 1^bis of the Federal Act of 7 October 1983² on the Protection of the Environment
and in implementation of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade of 10 September 1998³ (PIC Convention),

ordains:

Section 1 General Provisions

Art. 1 Aim

This Ordinance establishes a notification and information system for the import and export of certain substances and preparations, the use of which is banned or subject to severe restrictions owing to their effects on human health or on the environment.

It enables Switzerland to participate in the international notification procedure and the international prior informed consent procedure (PIC procedure) for certain hazardous chemicals and preparations in accordance with the PIC Convention.

Art. 2 Scope

This Ordinance applies to:a. substances that are banned or subject to severe restrictions in Switzerland for reasons of health or environmental protection (Annex 1);b. substances subject to the PIC procedure (Annex 2) and severely hazardous pesticide formulations (Annex 2);c. other hazardous substances and hazardous preparations in terms of Article 3 of the Chemicals Ordinance of 5 June 2015⁴ (ChemO).⁵

It does not apply to:a. narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;b. radioactive materials;c. wastes;d. chemical weapons;e. pharmaceuticals, including human and veterinary drugs;f. foods;g. substances and preparations used as food additives;h.⁶ substances and preparations exported for analysis and research purposes or by an individual for his own personal use in quantities that do not exceed 10 kg per consignment.

Art. 2a⁷ Definitions

In this Ordinance:a. chemical in accordance with Annex 1 means:1. a substance listed in Annex 1,2. a preparation that contains one or more substances in accordance with Annex 1 in a concentration that means that the preparation is deemed hazardous in terms of Article 3 ChemO⁸;b. chemical in accordance with Annex 2 means:1. a substance listed in Annex 2,2. a severely hazardous pesticide formulation listed in Annex 2,3. a preparation that contains one or more substances in accordance with Annex 1 in a concentration that means that the preparation is deemed hazardous in terms of Article 3 ChemO.

Section 2 Obligations of Exporters and Importers

Art. 3 Export notification

Any person who wishes to export a chemical under Annex 1 or 2 to an importing PIC Party must, for his first export in each calendar year and for each destination country, communicate the following information to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) no later than 30 days before exporting:⁹a. his name and address;b. the name and address of the importer;c.¹⁰ the name and identity of the substance or the names, identity and content (in per cent) of all substances under Annex 1 or 2 contained in the preparation (chemical name including CAS numbers) and the appropriate trade names;d. the expected quantity to be exported in the current year;e. the importing country;f. the hazardous properties and the proposed hazard labelling;g. advice on countermeasures in the event of an accident, on measures for safe disposal and on other precautionary measures, particularly to reduce exposure and emissions;h. the likely uses;i. the likely export date;j. ¹¹ the safety data sheet in accordance with Article 20 ChemO ¹².

Chemicals listed in Annex 1 that are exported for use as plant protection products and are subject to the licensing requirement in accordance with Annex 2.5 Number 4.2.1 of the Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance of 18 May 2005¹³ are exempted from the notification obligation in paragraph 1.¹⁴

Art. 4 Export restrictions

The exporters must comply with the import decisions of the Parties.

They must not export any chemical under Annex 2 to a PIC Party that, in exceptional circumstances, has failed to transmit an import decision or has transmitted an interim response that does not contain an interim decision.¹⁵

The ban under paragraph 2 does not apply if:a. the chemical concerned is registered or authorised at the time of import by the importing PIC Party;b. the chemical concerned can be proven to have previously been used or imported by the importing PIC Party and no ban on its use has been issued by the Party; orc. the exporter has received express consent for the import of the chemical from the importing PIC Party.¹⁶

Art. 5 Accompanying information and customs declaration¹⁷

Any person exporting a hazardous substance or preparation in terms of Article 3 ChemO¹⁸ must:a. label the substance or preparation at least with the following information, taking into account the relevant international standards:1. name of the manufacturer,2. chemical name or trade name,3. information on the hazards to humans and the environment and the appropriate protective measures;b. provide each recipient with a safety data sheet containing the latest available information.¹⁹

…²⁰

The labelling under paragraph 1 and the safety data sheet must be worded in at least one official language of the importing country if this can be achieved at reasonable expense. In other cases, the most widely used foreign language in the importing country must be chosen.

Any person who exports a chemical under Annex 1 or 2 or imports a chemical under Annex 2 must state in the customs declaration that the chemical falls within the scope of this Ordinance.²¹

Any person who exports a chemical under Annex 1 or 2 must also indicate in the customs declaration the identification number allocated by the FOEN in accordance with Article 8a.²²

Any person who exports or imports a chemical under Annex 2 must indicate in the shipping documents the customs tariff number, insofar as such exists for the chemical under Annex 2, that contains the code assigned to the chemical under Annex 2 by the World Customs Organisation under the harmonised systems (HS-Code).²³

Art. 6²⁴

Art. 7 Import restrictions

The importers must comply with the import decisions from Switzerland in accordance with Article 14.

Section 3 Duties of the Authorities

Art. 8 Designated national authority for Switzerland

The FOEN²⁵ is the designated national authority under Article 4 of the PIC Convention.

Art. 8a²⁶ Identification number

Within 15 days of receiving an export notification in terms of Article 3, the FOEN shall in each case issue an identification number valid for specific calendar year:a. for each chemical under Annex 1, provided the notification contains the required information;b. for each chemical under Annex 2, provided the export restrictions are likely to be met.

The FOEN shall inform the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS)²⁷ of the export notifications under Article 3 and of the identification numbers issued under paragraph 1.

Art. 9 Cooperation between authorities

With regard to the notification and information procedures provided for in this Ordinance, the FOEN shall obtain the opinions of those federal agencies whose areas of responsibility are affected.

The federal agencies shall keep one another informed about facts and knowledge relating to implementation of the PIC Convention.

The FOEN may request from the FOCBS the details needed to enforce this Ordinance contained in customs declarations relating to imported and exported substances and preparations.²⁸

Art. 10 Swiss representation in the Chemical Review Committee

The FOEN determines the representation of Switzerland in the Chemical Review Committee within the meaning of Article 18 of the PIC Convention and supervises the work arising in this connection.

Art. 11 Notification of regulatory actions

The FOEN shall notify the PIC Secretariat in writing of any Swiss regulatory action that bans certain substances or puts them under severe restrictions (Annex 1).²⁹

This notification shall be submitted no later than 90 days after the relevant regulatory action has come into force. It shall also contain, if available, the information required by Annex I of the PIC Convention.

Art. 12 Export notification

If a chemical under Annex 1 is exported to an importing PIC Party, the FOEN shall notify the authority designated by this Party of the export. The export notification must contain the information set out in Annex V of the PIC Convention.³⁰

The export notification for a chemical under Annex 1 must be submitted no later than 15 days before the first export in each calendar year.³¹

If no acknowledgement is received from the designated authority of the importing PIC Party within 30 days of dispatch of the export notification, the FOEN shall repeat the notification.

Art. 13 Acknowledgement of receipt

The FOEN shall send an acknowledgement of receipt of a PIC Party’s export notification to the national authority designated by this Party within 30 days.

Art. 14 Import decision, interim response

If a substance or a severely hazardous pesticide formulation is included as a new entry in Annex III of the PIC Convention, the FOEN shall send the import decision or the interim response (both referred to hereinafter as response) from Switzerland to the PIC Secretariat no later than nine months after receipt of the decision guidance document in accordance with Article 7 of the PIC Convention.³²

The response shall be sent in agreement with the federal agencies whose areas of responsibility are affected.

Art. 15 Publications and amending of lists

The FOEN shall publish the following on its website³³:a. the responses from Switzerland (Art. 14);b. every six months, the responses of the PIC Parties sent to the PIC Secretariat.³⁴

It shall maintain the list of the PIC Parties³⁵ and make them available upon request.

It shall amend Annex 2 according to the changes to Annex III of the PIC Convention and add appropriate notes to Annex 1.

Section 4 Final Provisions

Art. 16 Order-issuing powers and delegation of enforcement duties

The FOEN may issue the orders required to enforce this Ordinance.

It may transfer the duties and powers assigned to it by way of this Ordinance in whole or in part to suitable public bodies or private persons.

Art. 17³⁶ Enforcement by the customs offices and calling-in of the FOEN

By means of random checks or at the request of the FOEN, the customs offices shall monitor whether the obligations under Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 are being met in respect of the import and export of substances and preparations.

If there is any suspicion of a violation, they have the right to detain the goods. In this case, they shall call in the FOEN. The FOEN shall carry out further investigations and take the necessary action.

Art. 18 Charges

The obligation to pay fees and the calculation of fees for administrative acts by the FOEN in accordance with this Ordinance is governed by the Chemicals Fees Ordinance of 18 May 2005³⁷.³⁸

Art. 19 Commencement

This Ordinance comes into force on 1 January 2005.

(Art. 2 para 1 let. a)

Substances and preparations that are banned or subject to severe restrictions in Switzerland

Substances marked with the symbol # in this Annex are also substances or components of severely hazardous pesticide formulations that are subject to the PIC procedure (Annex 2).

Substance/preparation	Relevant CAS number(s)	Category
1,1,1-Trichlorethan	71-55-6	Industrial chemical
1,2-Dibromethan (Ethylendibromid) #	106-93-4	Pesticide
1,2-Dichlorethan (Ethylendichlorid) #	107-06-2
1,3-Dichlorpropen	542-75-6	Pesticide
2-(2,4,5-Trichlorphenoxy)-propionsäure und ihre Salze
2-(2,4,5-Trichlorphenoxy)-propionyl-verbindungen
2,4,5-Trichlorphenoxyacetylverbindungen
2,4,5-Trichlorphenoxyessigsäure und ihre Salze #	93-76-5	Pesticide
2,4-Dinitrotoluol (2,4-DNT)	121-14-2	Industrial chemical
2-Naphthylamin und seine Salze	91-59-8	Industrial chemical
4,4’-Diaminodiphenylmethan (MDA)	101-77-9	Industrial chemical
4-Aminobiphenyl und seine Salze	92-67-1	Industrial chemical
4-Nitrobiphenyl	92-93-3	Industrial chemical
5-tert-Butyl-2,4,6-trinitro-m-xylol (Moschus‑Xylol)	81-15-2	Industrial chemical
Acephat	30560-19-1	Pesticide
Acetochlor	34256-82-1	Pesticide
Alachlor #	15972-60-8	Pesticide
Aldrin #	309-00-2	Pesticide
Alkane C₁₀-C₁₃, Chlor #	85535-84-8	Industrial chemical
Allethrin	584-79-2	Pesticide
Ametryn	834-12-8	Pesticide
Amitraz	33089-61-1	Pesticide
Anthrachinon	84-65-1	Pesticide
Arsen and Arsenverbindungen	7440-38-2 und weitere	Pesticide
Asbestos		Industrial chemical
Aktinolith #	77536-66-4
Anthophyllith #	77536-67-5
Amosit #	12172-73-5
Krokydolith #	12001-28-4
Tremolit #	77536-68-6
Chrysotil	12001-29-5
alpha-Hexabromcyclododecan #	134237-50-6	Industrial chemical
Azinphos-Methyl #	86-50-0	Pesticide
Bendiocarb	22781-23-3	Pesticide
Bensulid	741-58-2	Pesticide
Bensultap	17606-31-4	Pesticide
Benzidin und seine Salze	92-87-5	Industrial chemical
Benzol³⁹	71-43-2	Industrial chemical
beta-Hexabromcyclododecan #	134237-51-7	Industrial chemical
Binapacryl #	485-31-4	Pesticide
Bioallethrin	584-79-2	Pesticide
Bioresmethrin	28434-01-7	Pesticide
Bis(trichlormethyl)sulfon	3064-70-8	Pesticide
Bitertanol	55179-31-2	Pesticide
Bleichromat	7758-97-6	Industrial chemical
Bleichromatmolybdatsulfatrot (C.I. Pigment Red 104)	12656-85-8	Industrial chemical
Bleisulfochromatgelb (C.I. Pigment Yellow 34)	1344-37-2	Industrial chemical
Bromacil	314-40-9	Pesticide
Brommethan	74-83-9	Industrial chemical
Butafenacil	134605-64-4	Pesticide
Butralin	33629-47-9	Pesticide
Butylat	2008-41-5	Pesticide
Cadmium and Cadmiumverbindungen	7440-43-9 und weitere	Industrial chemical
Cadusafos	95465-99-9	Pesticide
Carbaryl	63-25-2	Pesticide
Carbendazim	10605-21-7	Pesticide
Carbofuran #	1563-66-2	Pesticide
Carbosulfan	55285-14-8	Pesticide
Chlordan #	57-74-9	Pesticide
Chlordecon (Kepon)	143-50-0	Pesticide
Chlorfenvinphos	470-90-6	Pesticide
Chloroform	67-66-3	Industrial chemical
Chlorpikrin	76-06-2	Pesticide
Chlorthal-Dimethyl	1861-32-1	Pesticide
Cholinchlorid	67-48-1	Pesticide
Cinidon-Ethyl	142891-20-1	Pesticide
Cyanamid	420-04-2	Pesticide
Cyanazin	21725-46-2	Pesticide
Cybutryn	28159-98-0	Pesticide
Cyfluthrin	68359-37-5	Pesticide
Cyhexatin	13121-70-5	Pesticide
DDD	72-54-8
DDE	72-55-9	Pesticide
DDT #	50-29-3	Pesticide
Decabromdiphenylether #	1163-19-5	Industrial chemical
Di-µ-oxo-di-n-butyl-stannylhydroxoboran (DBB)	75113-37-0	Industrial chemical
Diazinon	333-41-5	Pesticide
Dichlobenil	1194-65-6	Pesticide
Dichlorvos	62-73-7	Pesticide
Dicloran	99-30-9	Pesticide
Dicofol	115-32-2	Pesticide
Dicrotophos	141-66-2	Pesticide
Dieldrin #	60-57-1	Pesticide
Diisobutylphthalat (DIBP)	84-69-5	Industrial chemical
Dimethenamid	87674-68-8	Pesticide
Diniconazol-M	83657-18-5	Pesticide
Dinitro-ortho-cresol (DNOC) and its salts (such as ammonium, potassium and sodium salts) #	534-52-1 2980-64-5 5787-96-2 2312-76-7	Pesticide
Dinocap	131-72-6	Pesticide
Dinoseb und seine Salze und Ester#	88-85-7	Pesticide
Dinoterb	1420-07-1	Pesticide
Endosulfan #	115-29-7	Pesticide
Endrin	72-20-8	Pesticide
Ethion	563-12-2	Pesticide
Ethoxyquin	91-53-2	Pesticide
Ethylenoxid #	75-21-8	Pesticide
Fenarimol	60168-88-9	Pesticide
Fenbutatinoxid	13356-08-6	Pesticide
Fenitrothion	122-14-5	Pesticide
Fenpropathrin	39515-41-8	Pesticide
Fenthion	55-38-9	Pesticide
Fentinacetat	900-95-8	Pesticide
Fentinhydroxid	76-87-9	Pesticide
Fenvalerat	51630-58-1	Pesticide
Flurenol	467-69-6	Pesticide
Flusilazol	85509-19-9	Pesticide
Furathiocarb	65907-30-4	Pesticide
gamma-Hexabromcyclododecan #	134237-52-8	Industrial chemical
Guazatin	108173-90-6	Pesticide
Halogenierte Naphthaline (C₁₀H_nX_8-n mit X=Halogen und 0 ≤ n ≤ 7)		Industrial chemical
Halone: Alle vollständig halogenierten bromhaltigen Fluorkohlenwasserstoffe mit bis zu 3 C-Atomen		Industrial chemical
Halons: all fully halogenated bromine-containing fluorocarbons with up to 3 carbon atoms		Industrial chemical
HBFCs: All partially halogenated brominecontaining fluorohydrocarbons with up to 3 carbon atoms		Industrial chemical
HCFCs: All partially halogenated chlorofluorocarbons with up to 3 carbon atoms		Industrial chemical
HCH (gemischte Isomere) #	608-73-1	Pesticide
Heptabromdiphenylether C₁₂H₃Br₇O #	68928-80-3	Industrial chemical
Heptachlor #	76-44-8	Pesticide
Heptachlorepoxid	1024-57-3	Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Hexabromcyclododecane (HBCDD) #	3194-55-6 25637-99-4	Industrial chemical
Hexabromdiphenylether C₁₂H₄Br₆O #	36483-60-0	Industrial chemical
Hexachlorbenzol #	118-74-1	Pesticide
Hexachlorbutadien	87-68-3	Industrial chemical
Hexaconazol	79983-71-4	Pesticide
Hydramethylnon	67485-29-4	Pesticide
Ioxynil	1689-83-4	Pesticide
Isodrin	465-73-6	Pesticide
Isoproturon	34123-59-6	Pesticide
Kelevan	4234-79-1	Pesticide
Lindan #	58-89-9	Pesticide
Malathion	121-75-5	Pesticide
Mercury compounds, including inorganic mercury compounds, alkyl mercury compounds and alkyloxyalkyl and aryl mercury compounds		Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Methabenzthiazuron	18691-97-9	Pesticide
Methoxychlor	72-43-5	Pesticide
Methylparathion #	298-00-0	Pesticide
Metoxuron	19937-59-8	Pesticide
Mevinphos	7786-34-7	Pesticide
Mirex	2385-85-5	Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Monolinuron	1746-81-2	Pesticide
Monomethyldibromdiphenylmethan	99688-47-8	Industrial chemical
Monomethyldichlordiphenylmethan		Industrial chemical
Monomethyltetrachlordiphenylmethan	76253-60-6	Industrial chemical
Nabam	142-59-6	Pesticide
Naled	300-76-5	Pesticide
Nonylphenol		Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Nonylphenolethoxylate		Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Novaluron	116714-46-6	Pesticide
Octabromdiphenylether C₁₂H₂Br₈O	32536-52-0	Industrial chemical
Octylphenol		Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Octylphenolethoxylate		Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Omethoat	1113-02-6	Pesticide
Oxadiargyl	39807-15-3	Pesticide
Oxydemeton-methyl	301-12-2	Pesticide
Parathion #	56-38-2	Pesticide
Pebulat	1114-71-2	Pesticide
Pentabromdiphenylether C₁₂H₅Br₅O #	32534-81-9	Industrial chemical
Pentachlorbenzol	608-93-5	Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Pentachlorphenol und seine Salze sowie Pentachlorphenoxyverbindungen #	87-86-5	Pesticide, Industrial chemical
Perfluoroctansäure, ihre Salze und Vorläuferverbindungen #	335-67-1 und weitere	Industrial chemical
Perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS) C₈F₁₇SO₂X (X = OH, Metal salt (O-M+), halide, amide, and other derivatives including polymers) #	1763-23-1 2795‑39-3 and other	Industrial chemical
Permethrin	52645-53-1	Pesticide
Perthan	72-56-0	Pesticide
Phorat #	298-02-2	Pesticide
Phosalon	2310-17-0	Pesticide
Polybromierte Biphenyle (PBB) #	36355-01-8 (hexa-) 27858-07-7 (octa-) 13654-09-6 (deca-)	Industrial chemical
Polychlorierte Biphenyle (PCB) #	1336-36-3	Industrial chemical
Polychlorierte Terphenyle (PCT) #	61788-33-8	Industrial chemical
Procymidon	32809-16-8	Pesticide
Prometryn	7287-19-6	Pesticide
Propachlor	1918-16-7	Pesticide
Propanil	709-98-8	Pesticide
Propargit	2312-35-8	Pesticide
Propazin	139-40-2	Pesticide
Propham	122-42-9	Pesticide
Propoxur	114-26-1	Pesticide
Quintozen	82-68-8	Pesticide
Resmethrin	10453-86-8	Pesticide
Rotenon	83-79-4	Pesticide
Siduron	1982-49-6	Pesticide
Simazin	122-34-9	Pesticide
Stroban	8001-50-1	Pesticide
Teeröle	8001-58-9, 61789-28-4, 84650-04-4, 90640-84-9, 65996-91-0, 90640-80-5, 65996-85-2, 8021-39-4, 122384-78-5	Industrial chemical
Telodrin	297-78-9	Pesticide
Temephos	3383-96-8	Pesticide
Terbacil	5902-51-2	Pesticide
Terbufos #	13071-79-9	Pesticide
Terbutryn	886-50-0	Pesticide
Tetrabromdiphenylether C₁₂H₆Br₄O #	40088-47-9	Industrial chemical
Tetrachlorkohlenstoff	56-23-5	Industrial chemical
Tetrachlorophenol and its salts as well as tetrachlorophenoxy compounds
Tetrachlorvinphos	22248-79-9	Pesticide
Tetradifon	116-29-0	Pesticide
Tetramethrin	7696-12-0	Pesticide
Thiocyclamhydrogenoxalat	31895-22-4	Pesticide
Thiodicarb	59669-26-0	Pesticide
Thiometon	640-15-3	Pesticide
Tolylfluanid	731-27-1	Pesticide
Toxaphen (Camphechlor) #	8001-35-2	Pesticide
Triadimefon	43121-43-3	Pesticide
Triasulfuron	82097-50-5	Pesticide
Trichlorfon #	52-68-6	Pesticide
Tridemorph	24602-86-6	Pesticide
Triflumuron	64628-44-0	Pesticide
Trifluralin	1582-09-8	Pesticide
Triorganostannic compounds, including all tributyltin compounds #	56-35-9 and others	Pesticide
Tris(2,3-dibrompropyl)phosphat #	126-72-7	Industrial chemical
Tris(2-chlorethyl)-phosphat (TCEP)	115-96-8	Industrial chemical
Tris-azidirinyl-phosphinoxid	545-55-1	Industrial chemical
Vamidothion	2275-23-2	Pesticide
Vinclozolin	50471-44-8	Pesticide
Zineb	12122-67-7	Pesticide

(Art. 2 para. 1 let. b)

Substances and severely hazardous pesticide formulations subject to the prior informed consent procedure

(This Annex is identical to Annex III of the PIC Convention.)

Substance/severely hazardous pesticide formulation

Relevant CAS number(s)