E-Commerce in Switzerland

Companies that do business transactions with EU citizens by means of the internet should in particular be aware of the relevant EU Directives and corresponding national regulations. These include primarily data protection rules, rules concerning the conlusion of contracts via the Internet, guidelines for revocation and cancelation of transactions via the Internet, regulations regarding the use of general terms and condition in e-commerce and regulations concerning the identification of the service provider (imprint) and the labeling of products and services.

Only few regulations of the Swiss laws explicitly rule internet specific issues. Enterprises which are active in e-commerce, have to be aware of the fact that they are obliged to respect different laws and ordinances of different fields of law. These are for example the Federal Act (or Law) on Data Protection, the Federal Act against Unfair Competition, the Code on Obligations (CO), the Civil Code (CC), the Law on Electronic Certification Services, the Federal Act on Trademarks and Appellations of Origin, the Ordinance on Indication of Prices, the Federal Act on International Private Law etc.

On October 12, 2011, the Federal Council had decided that the revision of the federal law against unfair competition (LCD) shall take effect on 1 April 2012. Commercial websites will be required to include certain information on their pages. It will for example be required to disclose his identity, to indicate a customer service and to immediately confirm an order placed online. The Federal Council determines the entry into force of these amendments on 1st April 2012. The provision on unfair terms and conditions shall only come into force on 1 July 2012, leaving one year to the companies concerned to control and adjust, if necessary, the general conditions to the new regulations.