On 29 March 2023, the Swiss Federal Council, the executive body of Switzerland, announced its decision to implement an extension of the transitional periods for the certification of medical devices under the Swiss Medical Device Ordinance (“MedDO”) and the Ordinance on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (“IvDO”), in line with the amendment of transitional provisions in the European Union under Regulation (EU) 2023/607.
The implementation of these amended transitional provisions requires the formal amendment of the MedDO and the IvDO. These amendments are expected to be adopted in autumn 2023.

The legal framework for the labelling of vegan and vegetarian alternatives to meat is continuously evolving and also differs from country to country. In Switzerland, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office had put forward a very strict interpretation, deeming as deceptive and thus prohibited any use of animal designations in the labelling of vegan and vegetarian meat alternatives. In a recent decision, the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich rejected this strict approach and deemed the use of the terms “planted.chicken”, “like chicken”, “like pork”, “pulled pork”, “vegan pork” or “chicken from plants” on the packaging of vegan meat alternatives as not deceptive.

In its decision of 12 September 2022, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court confirmed that interpretive software that uses indicators such as calendar days and body temperature to monitor fertile and infertile phases of a menstrual cycle to achieve natural conception or prevent undesired pregnancy, qualifies as a medical device. This means that such software is subject to a conformity certification procedure with a notified body.