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On May 28, 2025, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) notified the WTO the Draft Revision of the Ordinance of the Federal Council concerning amendments of the Ordinance on the Reduction of Risks relating to the Use of Certain Particularly Dangerous Substances, Preparations and Articles (Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance, ORRChem). The Revision is proposed to be adopted in November 2025 and enter into force on December 1, 2025.
The Draft aligns with adopted amendments and additions to Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation and decisions of the conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which mainly includes the following changes:
Includes Dechlorane Plus (CAS RN 13560-89-9) , UV-328 (CAS RN 25973-55-1), Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and its related substances, methoxychlor (CAS RN 72-43-5) to the list of prohibited POPs (Annex 1.1). The manufacture, placing on the market, and use of these substances and preparations containing these substances, will be prohibited. In addition, articles containing these substances may not be placed on the market. Transitional provisions have been established for Dechlorane Plus and UV-328 where more time is needed to switch to alternatives;
The existing provisions (Annex 1.16) on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are supplemented by bans on the placing on the market of perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and its precursors, which are based on Regulation (EU) 2024/2462. The regulations cover applications such as certain textiles, paper or cardboard materials that come into contact with food, and preparations such as ski waxes or cosmetics;
Introduce a ban on the placing market of microplastics and preparations containing microplastics with a content of more than 0.01% by weight. This affects all industrial sectors that use microplastics in their products, such as the cosmetics, and detergent industries, the plant protection product and fertilizer industries, and manufacturers of synthetic sports surfaces with infill granules. The same exemptions from the bans and phasing-in of the bans for the various product categories as provided for in Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 apply;
Introduce a ban on lead in PVC. It is prohibited to manufacture and place on the market preparations containing PVC with a lead content of more than 0.1% by weight and articles containing PVC with a lead content of 0.1% or more by mass in the homogeneous material. This restriction aligns with the requirements set under Regulation (EU) 2023/925. To enable material recycling, exemptions are provided for products containing recovered PVC;
Introduce restrictions on formaldehyde releases in indoor spaces and road vehicles. The placing on the market of articles and road vehicles that exceed emission limits for formaldehyde shall be prohibited. The provisions are identical to those of Regulation (EU) 2023/1464;
The draft also contains provisions restricting the use of ozone-depleting substances, substances that are stable in the air (fluorinated greenhouse gases), partially halogenated unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons (HFOs) and fluorinated ketones.
The Draft Revision of ORRChem can be accessed here.
