Switzerland has added guidance on sanctions against Russian steel

The country clarified which documents will be considered as proof of the country of origin

Switzerland added guidance on sanctions against imports of Russian pig iron and steel, informs EU Sanctions portal.

The Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (EAER) has added guidance that defines the documents that will be considered sufficient «proof of country of origin» for steel products and explains in which cases it is necessary.

According to the instructions, the Swiss authorities are trying to ensure that the application of sanctions is as close as possible to the practice used in the EU and is in contact with the relevant European services.

Factory test certificates, invoices, bills of lading, quality certificates, long-term supplier declarations, cost estimates and production documents, customs documents of the exporting country, trade correspondence, product descriptions and exclusion clauses are acceptable documents for semi-finished and finished products.

In the case of import or transportation of steel products from the EU or Great Britain, as well as in the case of reimport of products that were already in free circulation on the territory of Switzerland, no evidence is required.

Switzerland is consistently joining the EU restrictions imposed in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The new EU sanctions, which came into effect on September 30, 2023, will require evidence that steel products imported into the EU, which were produced in third countries, including Great Britain, were made without the use of Russian pig iron, semi-finished products, or rolled products. Test certificates will be used to confirm the origin of products.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in April 2023, the government of Great Britain announced on updated rules under the Public Procurement Notice (PPN) for steel requiring reporting of its origin in government projects. This step, in particular, should help track the source of products from countries under sanctions.