817.0

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.

Federal Act
on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles

(Foodstuffs Act, FSA)

of 9 October 1992 (status as of 1 January 2012)

The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation,

on the basis of Articles 32^ter, 64 and 69^bis of the Federal Constitution¹,² and having considered the dispatch of the Federal Council dated 30 January 1989³,

decrees:

Chapter 1: Aim, Scope and Definitions

Art. 1 Aim

Art. 2 Scope of application

Art. 3 Foodstuffs

Art. 4 Components, additives, foreign substances

Art. 5 Utility articles

Chapter 2: Foodstuffs and Utility articles

Section 1: General Provisions

Art. 6 Principle

Art. 7 Source products

Art. 8 Authorised foodstuffs

Art. 9 Manufacturing processes

Art. 10 Limit values and tolerance values

Art. 11

Art. 12 Information for the public

Section 2: Health

Art. 13 Nutritional products and luxury foods

Art. 14 Utility articles

Section 3: Handling of Foodstuffs

Art. 15 Hygiene

Art. 16 Slaughter of animals

Art. 17 Slaughterhouses

Art. 17a Licensing and reporting requirements

Section 4: Deception in relation to Foodstuffs

Art. 18 Prohibition of deception

Art. 19 Imitation and confusion

Section 5: Information about Foodstuffs

Art. 20 Obligation to provide information and designation

Art. 21 Special labelling

Chapter 3: Foodstuffs Control

Section 1: Principles

Art. 22 Methods of analysis

Art. 23 Self-supervision

Art. 23a Traceability

Section 2: Control Procedures

Art. 24 Inspection and obtaining samples

Art. 25 Rights and obligations of manufacturers and traders

Art. 26 Inspection of animals before and after slaughter

Art. 26a Control of foodstuffs of animal origin

Art. 27 Complaints

Section 3: Measures

Art. 28 Goods in respect of which a complaint has been registered

Art. 29 Other complaints

Art. 30 Precautionary measures

Art. 31 Reporting and warning

Chapter 4: Enforcement

Section 1: Federal Government

Art. 32 Import, transit and export

Art. 33 Prohibition of import

Art. 34 Research and training

Art. 35 Enforcement in the armed forces

Art. 36 Supervision and coordination

Art. 37 Federal Council enforcement provisions

Art. 38 International cooperation

Section 2: Cantons

Art. 39 Cantonal regulations

Art. 40 Control of foodstuffs

Art. 41 Basic and advanced training

Art. 41a Examining boards

Section 3: Special Enforcement Provisions

Art. 42 Duty of secrecy

Art. 43 Public warning

Art. 43a Cooperation of third parties

Chapter 5: Financing

Art. 44 Allocation of responsibilities

Art. 45 Fees

Chapter 6: Slaughter Weight

Art. 46

Chapter 7: Criminal Law Provisions and Rights of Appeal

Section 1: Criminal Law Provisions

Art. 47 Misdemeanours

Art. 48 Contraventions

Art. 49 Infringements in business establishments, falsification of documents

Art. 50 Prosecution

Art. 51 Procedural costs

Section 2: Rights of Appeal

Art. 52 Objection procedure

Art. 53 Cantonal appeal procedure

Art. 54 Administration of federal justice

Art. 55 Time limits

Art. 56 Suspensive effect and precautionary measures

Art. 57 Liability

Chapter 8: Final Provisions

Art. 58 Repeal of current legislation

Art. 59 Amendments to current legislation

Art. 60 Transitional provision

Art. 61 Referendum and commencement

Commencement date: 1 July 1995⁴

AS 1995 1469

¹ [BS 1 3; AS 1985 659] These provisions correspond to Arts. 97 para. 1, 105, 118 para. 2 and 123 of the Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 (SR 101).
² Amended in accordance with Annex No 6 of the Genetic Engineering Act of 21 March 2003, in force since 1 Jan. 2004 (SR 814.91)
³ BBl 1989 I 893
⁴ Federal Council Decree of 1 March 1995 (AS 1995 1487)