WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/Notif.99.552
5 November 1999
(99-4794)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   SWITZERLAND
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:   Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, Berne
Agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be
indicated if different from above:   State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Berne
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Seeds
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Modification of
the Ordinance on the Production and Placing on the Market of Seeds (1 page, in French and
German)
6. Description of content:   The proposed modification intends to allow the placing on the
market of seeds containing "impurities" of certain genetically modified organisms, which
are not yet approved as seeds in Switzerland.  The tolerance for those "impurities" is 0,5%.Such a tolerance applies however only to GMO-seeds which are authorized as such by the
EC and belong to genetically modified species authorized for the production of foodstuffs or
animal feed under Swiss legislation.  Furthermore it is foreseen that seeds, which contain
0,5% or less of genetically modified organisms, are exempted from mandatory
GMO-labelling.
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
Ensure the supply of the Swiss market with seeds, ensure transparency for consumers.
8. Relevant documents:   Ordinance of 7 December 1998 concerning the production and
placing on the market of seeds.
9. Proposed date of adoption:  January 2000
Proposed date of entry into force:  Spring 2000
10. Final date for comments:   31 December 1999
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X] or address, e-mail and telefax
number of the other body:           