Timber Trade Ordinance (TTO)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 1 Aim
This Ordinance is intended to prevent timber and wood products that have not been legally harvested or traded from being placed on the market.
Art. 2 Scope
1 This Ordinance applies to the timber and wood products set out in Annex 1. 2 It does not apply to products made from waste wood.
Art. 3 Definitions
In this Ordinance: a. placing on the market for the first time means the supply of timber or wood products in Switzerland for the first time for distribution or use in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge; b. initial operator means any natural or legal person who places timber or wood products on the market for the first time; c. trader means any natural or legal person who, in the course of a commercial activity, procures or passes on timber or wood products already placed on the market; d. country of origin means the country of harvest; e. illegally harvested timber means timber harvested in contravention of the applicable legislation in the country of origin; f. applicable legislation in the country of origin means the legislation in force in the country of origin covering the following matters: 1. rights to harvest timber within legally gazetted boundaries, 2. payments for harvest rights and timber, including duties and taxes related
Chapter 2 Due Diligence and Traceability
Art. 4 Due diligence system
1 Initial operators must use a due diligence system. 2 The due diligence system shall include the: a. gathering of information and documentation (Art. 5); b. performance of a risk assessment (Art. 6); c. implementation of risk mitigation (Art. 7). 3 Initial operators must maintain their due diligence system and evaluate it annually. They may have their system and its use evaluated by a recognised inspection body in accordance with Article 10.
Art. 5 Gathering of information and documentation
1 Initial operators must gather the following information: a. description of the timber or wood product, including the trade name and type of product as well as the common name of the tree species and its full scientific name; b. the country of origin; c. the region, unless the risk of illegal harvesting is regarded as equally high in every region of a country of origin; d. information on the harvesting concession unless the risk of illegal harvesting is regarded as equally high in the case of every concession granted in a country of origin or a region; e. the quantity of timber and wood products in volume or weight or in number of units; f. the name and address of the supplier; g. information indicating compliance with the applicable legislation in the country of origin; timber and wood products for whose import, transit and export a permit has been issued under Article 8 paragraphs 1, 2 or 4 and Article 12 of the Ordinance of 4 September 2013 on the Trade in Protected Animal and Plan
Para. 1 let. g — SR 453.0
Art. 6 Risk assessment
Initial operators must assess the risk that the timber or wood product may originate from illegal harvesting or illegal trade. The risk assessment shall be based on the information listed in Article 5 paragraph 1 and on the following criteria: a. the existence, where applicable, of an assurance of compliance with legislation in the country of origin, which may include certification or other third-party-verified schemes which cover compliance with legislation; b. the prevalence of illegal harvesting of the tree species concerned; c. the prevalence of illegal harvesting in the country of origin or in the individual region of the country of origin; the prevalence of armed conflict in the country of origin must also be considered in this connection; d. any sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European Union or Switzerland in relation to the import, export and transit of timber and wood products; e. the complexity of the supply chain of timber and wood products; f. the risk of corru
Art. 7 Risk mitigation
1 If the risk that the timber or wood products are derived from illegal harvesting or illegal trade proves not to be negligible, initial operators must carry out further investigations and measures to mitigate the risk. 2 If the risk still proves not to be negligible after the risk mitigation has been carried out, they must not place the timber or wood products on the market.
Art. 8 Documentation and retention
Information under Articles 4–7 must be adequately documented and retained for five years.
Art. 9 Retention of documents for traceability
Traders must retain for five years the documents required to ensure traceability under Article 35g paragraph 1 EPA.
Chapter 3 Inspection Bodies
Art. 10 Functions
An inspection body shall: a. evaluate the due diligence system and its use by the initial operator, by means of a regular inspection based on the specifications issued by Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), and recommend appropriate action if necessary; b. notify the authorities in the event of significant or repeated failures by initial operators; c. adequately document information and actions under letters a and b and retain the documentation for five years.
Art. 11 Recognition
1 An inspection body may be recognised if it fulfils the following requirements: a. It must have legal personality and have its registered office in Switzerland. b. It must have appropriate expertise and the capacity to exercise its functions. c. It shall ensure the absence of any conflict of interest in carrying out its functions. d. It shall be accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS) as a conformity assessment body that carries out inspections (Standard SN EN ISO/IEC 17020, 2012, Requirement for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection, Type C). 2 Inspection bodies shall apply for recognition; they shall submit the documents indicated in Annex 2 with their application. The FOEN is responsible for the recognition. It shall issue a specifications document setting out what technical competences inspection bodies must possess and what items must be checked during an inspection and recorded in a report. 3 If an inspection body no longer fulfils the requir
Para. 1 let. d — The standards may be inspected free of charge and obtained for a fee from the Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV), Sulzerallee 70, 8404 Winterthur; www.snv.ch.