New chemicals regulation
The high level of protection in the handling of chemicals is to be made even safer in Switzerland by amending the law. At a meeting on March 31, 2021, the Federal Council submitted a revised Chemicals Ordinance for consultation.
Until now, certain chemicals have had to be labeled in two official languages. In practice, this means that in the Italian-speaking parts of the country, products are also legally on sale that are not labeled in Italian. In the future, the language of the place of sale will always be decisive for the labeling of all chemicals, such as pesticides, biocides, fertilizers or household chemicals, according to a federal notification.
Furthermore, the notification procedure for new substances is to be modernized. Up to now, only substances that are not on an existing substances list (EINECS) have to be notified with a data set before being placed on the market. In the future, all substances that are not registered in the EU will have to be notified. The consultation will run until July 16, 2021.
Source: the Federal Council
