The Osec leaflet «MwSt – Grenzüberschreitender Dienstleistungsverkehr mit der EU» (available in German, French and Italian) provides further information about the reverse charge procedure.

1. As soon as you operate in the EU as an importer (e.g. pursuant to the Incoterm Clause DDP), 2. For certain chain transactions, 3. For internal deliveries (within a country).

Registration results in various monthly or quarterly declaration obligations (value added tax declarations, Intrastat declarations, summary declarations).

The licensing request must be submitted to the responsible regional customs office (Schaffhausen, Basel, Geneva or Lugano). Further information and forms are available here: SFCA – Authorised Exporter .

Movement certificates EUR.1 or EUR.MED are available from the Swiss Federal Customs Authority or from the cantonal chambers of commerce.

It is essentially the case that Swiss companies are not permitted to issue EU supplier declarations. When it comes to trade in goods between the EU and Switzerland, movement certificates (EUR.1) or country of origin declarations always have to be used on the invoice as proof of preferential status. Because EU companies are often unaware of this, they frequently demand supplier declarations from Swiss companies. However, supplier declarations issued by Swiss companies are not valid in the EU.

Preferential origin serves to make goods customs-exempt or subject to reduced customs when exported to a country with which Switzerland has a free trade agreement.

Fulfilment of non-preferential origin regulations does not make goods customs-free when imported to a third-party country – this origin rule is applied only if the country of destination demands a country of origin certificate for the import.

As a rule, the industrial goods listed in Chapter 25-97 are covered by free trade agreements. Chapters 1-24 mostly govern separate agricultural agreements. The list of rules applicable to the various agreements can be found here: FSCA – Service Document D.30.

More and more countries are applying the phytosanitary standard ISPM 15 in order to prevent the importing of timber pests. Imports to these countries must take place in wooden packaging (crates, pallets, etc.) that have been subjected to a specifically prescribed course of treatment.

A summary of all the Free Trade Agreements in Switzerland can be found on the SECO website.

The control of goods on an international level is regulated in Switzerland by two legal instruments, the Goods Control Act (GKG) and the War Material Act (KMG). The control covers so-called dual-use goods (goods that can be used for military and civil purposes) and military materials and special military hardware.

The SECO is responsible for monitoring in Switzerland.

Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) govern the rights and obligations of buyers and sellers as well as the transfer of costs and risks. They are only used if agreed in writing and can only be applied to purchase agreements.

They are only valid if the correct terms are used (terms, version, place).

Swiss companies may not generally issue EU long-term supplier declarations. In transactions between the EU and Switzerland, a movement certificate (EUR.1) must be used or the declaration of origin must be stated on the invoice as preference document.

As EU companies are often unaware of this, they will ask Swiss companies for a supplier declaration. Supplier declarations issued by Swiss companies are not valid in the EU.

The EU Directives contain the basic requirements for the protection of safety, health and the environment in order to enable the free movement of goods and services in the EU.

The EC marking (EC =«European Community») shows that the product with this marking satisfies the basic requirements of these Directives and has undergone a prescribed procedure in order to receive this marking.

In this case (in connection with the EU), the so-called reverse charge process is applied, i.e., the tax liability is shifted to the recipient.

As a Swiss service provider, you may issue your invoice free of value added tax stating on the invoice «VAT to be paid by the recipient».

The EORI (Economic Operator’s Registration and Identification Number) is an EU customs number. This is required for every customs transaction in the EU.

A Swiss company does not normally require such a number unless it operates in the EU as a customs declarant (e.g., in case of DDP deliveries).

Swiss companies have for example, access to funding in all infrastructure projects especially in the fields of transport and the environment.

Swiss companies are not normally on an equal footing with EU companies as regards other EU promotion programmes.

Customs tariffs are available here:

• WorldTariff (free access via our Internet channel for Swiss and Liechtenstein companies)
• EU/Switzerland
• You can also contact our experts.

EU decrees do not automatically have the same application/interpretation in every EU Member State. You should therefore check how these are implemented in the respective Member States.

The following points will serve as a guide for serious preselection and further decision-making:

• Current product range/brands
• Current customer sectors served
• Sales organization
• Legal form
• Number of employees
• Existing cooperation, connections, association memberships
• Correspondence language
• History of the business
• Business development
• Infrastructure, stores, branches, organizations, exhibition area, etc.
• Business reports
• Sales figures
• Examples of marketing activities
• Professional experience and professional backgrounds of selected (groups of) persons in the potential partner company
• Documented interest in further discussions
• Pictures of the potential business partner’s company
• References

Contact us for support and preparing the search for the right business partner for your company.

There are various possibilities of optimizing your liability within cooperation agreements, of showing that you have documented all your customers and have undertaken all steps to adhere to your quality control. We generally recommend consulting a solicitor.

The following checklist is helpful in checking the seriousness of Chinese partners:

1. Is this a high-volume business transaction?
2. Was your offer accepted very quickly and without considerable renegotiating or demands for price reductions?
3. Do the Chinese partners use e-mail addresses from «Yahoo», «Hotmail»‚ «136.com» or other free providers?
4. Is communication with the Chinese partners mainly via e-mail, fax and mobile phone?
5. Have you ever managed to reach anyone via a landline number provided by the Chinese side?
6. Does the business have its own website?
7. Were technical details/specifications discussed?
8. Have you received information on the exact purpose or the end customers for your products?

If the above questions 1-4 can be answered with Yes and the questions 5-8 with No, the indications are that the business intentions of the Chinese companies should not be taken seriously.

The Authorized Economic Operator or AEO is a status afforded to legal persons that are regarded as reliable with respect to the security of the international delivery chain. AEOs are afforded facilities regarding security-related controls. The status is recognized by States with which Switzerland has concluded the respective agreement (currently the EU – as at June 2011).

For a Swiss company, one must initially clarify what the economic consequences are of not having AEO certification. The exact costs of AEO certification should also be clarified in advance (building measures needed, internal control system satisfactory, costs of satisfying safety requirements, etc.).

This is initially aimed at defining where exactly the goods come from:

• VUB (autonomous origin)
• Made in Switzerland (“Swissness”)
• Preferential origin (free trade agreement)

More information on these origin categories is available via the following links or in our Export Center.
VUB (regulation on the certification of origin): regulation on the certification of the non-preferential origin of goods.
Made in Switzerland: Frequently Asked Questions

International transactions always raise the question regarding value added tax. Particularly when several companies conclude agreements for the same item and the goods and the invoice do not follow the same route, questions occur regarding the optimal handling of things such as invoices, tax registration, reporting obligations, etc. The correct approach requires a thorough knowledge of Swiss and EU VAT law.

It has become simpler for Swiss companies to perform construction, construction-related and assembly work in the EU since the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU came into effect. There are still a few pitfalls however.