4 November 2025

The Federal Supreme Court upheld Swissmedic’s appeal against a decision of the Zurich Court of Appeal. The case arose from a report by Swissmedic against A. for violating the Narcotics Act (NarcA). A. had imported pills from Italy into Switzerland. However, the competent authority declared that the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) rather than the NarcA applied and thus dropped the case. The Zurich Court of Appeal had dismissed Swissmedic’s complaint against the decision to abandon proceedings, as it considered the NarcA to be inapplicable.

The Federal Supreme Court subsequently examined the relation between the TPA and the NarcA in detail. It ruled that the NarcA is applicable whenever the TPA contains no provisions, or only less stringent ones. However, the Zurich Court of Appeal had concluded that the TPA contained stricter provisions than the NarcA, and on this basis denied its applicability. The Federal Supreme Court found this to constitute a violation of federal law. It held that contrary to the view of the Zurich Court of Appeal, the decisive question was not which act applies in a particular case, but rather which regulation each act provides for a specific situation. Furthermore, the provision cited by the Zurich Court of Appeal was not applicable in this case. For these reasons, the appeal was upheld, and the case was sent back to the Zurich Court of Appeal for reassessment.

For more information, see here.