Inserted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 General Provisions
Art. 52a Subject matter and scope
1 This Chapter regulates the use of indications of source for: a. products under Article 48c TmPA; b. services under Article 49 TmPA. 2 For foodstuffs, the Ordinance of 2 September 2015 on the Use of Swiss Indications of Source for Foodstuffs as well as Articles 52c and 52d of this Ordinance apply.
Para. 2 — SR 232.112.1
Art. 52b Definitions
In this Ordinance: a. Products under Article 48c TmPA means products which do not fall under the category of natural products or foodstuffs, in particular industrial products; b. Natural products means products under Article 48a TmPA which come directly from nature and are not processed for placing on the market; c. Materials means raw materials in accordance with Article 48c TmPA; they include the actual raw materials as well as auxiliary materials and semi-finished products.
Art. 52c Use of references to a region or place
If goods or services fulfil the legal criteria of origin for Switzerland as a whole, they may be labelled with a reference to a region or place in Switzerland. They must fulfil additional requirements if: a. a particular quality or another characteristic of the goods or service is essentially due to the geographical origin indicated; or b. the region or place gives the goods or service a particular reputation.
Art. 52d Prohibition of misuse
1 It is prohibited to misuse any flexibility in applying the criteria when determining the place of origin of a product or service. 2 The following, in particular, constitute misuse: a. using different methods, without objective justification, to calculate the costs of materials that constitute the goods when determining their place of origin; or b. if the user’s activity that took place in Switzerland is so minor that it is in obvious disproportion to the activity abroad, in particular if the costs incurred in Switzerland are negligible in comparison to the costs of materials that had to be purchased abroad due to their insufficient availability in Switzerland.
Section 2 Indications of Source for Products under
Art. 52e Relevant manufacturing costs
1 The following costs are considered as manufacturing costs under Article 48c paragraphs 1 and 2 TmPA: a. research and development costs; b. material costs; c. production costs including costs for the quality assurance and certification which are prescribed by law or standardised in an economic sector. 2 Costs incurred after the conclusion of the production process are not considered to be manufacturing costs.
Art. 52f Research and development costs
1 Research costs include the costs for product-related research and non-product related research. 2 Development costs are the costs which are incurred from the conception of the product up until it is market-ready.
Art. 52g Allocation of research and development costs
1 Product-related research costs and development costs are directly allocated to the manufacturing costs of the product. 2 Non-product related research costs are allocated to the manufacturing costs of the individual products by a suitable allocation key. 3 The research and development costs may be allocated to the manufacturing costs following the end of the depreciation period customary in the industry. The amount allocated corresponds to the average annual depreciation of the research and development costs during the depreciation period customary in the industry.
Art. 52h Material costs
1 Material costs include direct and indirect material costs. 2 Direct material costs are the material costs which are directly attributable to a product. 3 Indirect material costs are considered to be material costs not covered by paragraph 2, in particular, costs incurred for temporary storage or transport during the production process.
Art. 52i Allocation of material costs
1 The direct material costs are allocated to the manufacturing costs of the product using a standardised method of calculation, in particular, according to one of the following calculation methods: a. the direct material costs are allocated to the manufacturing costs at the percentage which corresponds to the share of the costs of materials incurred in Switzerland; b. the direct material costs are allocated to the manufacturing costs at the following percentages: 1. 100 per cent for materials which fulfil the requirements of Articles 48–48c TmPA, 2. 0 per cent for materials which do not fulfil the requirements of Articles 48–48c TmPA. 2 The indirect material costs shall be allocated, by suitable means, to the manufacturing costs of the individual products.
Art. 52j Allocation of costs for auxiliary materials
The costs for auxiliary materials do not need to be allocated to the manufacturing costs if: a. the auxiliary materials are of completely secondary significance to the characteristics of the products; and b. the costs for the auxiliary materials are negligible in comparison to the manufacturing costs of the product.
Art. 52k Materials unavailable in sufficient quantities in Switzerland
If a material is not available in sufficient quantities in Switzerland according to publicly accessible industry information, the manufacturer may assume that they are permitted to exclude the costs of materials purchased abroad, up to the indicated unavailability rate, from the calculation of the manufacturing costs.
Art. 52l Production costs
1 The production costs consist of direct production costs and indirect production costs. 2 Production costs include, in particular: a. salaries; b. salary-related production costs; c. machine-related production costs; d. costs for quality assurance and certification which are prescribed by law or standardised in an economic sector.
Art. 52m Allocation of the production costs
1 Direct production costs are directly allocated to the manufacturing costs of the product. 2 Indirect production costs are allocated to the manufacturing costs of the individual products by a suitable key.
Art. 52n Calculation of manufacturing costs incurred abroad
Manufacturing costs incurred abroad may be converted into Swiss francs as follows: a. at the current exchange rate; or b. at the average rate used by the company in its daily business.
Section 3 Indications of Source for Services
Art. 52o
A place of effective administration under Article 49 TmPA is presumed to be the place where: a. the activities which are essential to the fulfilment of the commercial purpose are carried out; and b. the decisions which determine the provision of the service are made.