To start a leather goods brand in Switzerland you need no licence, no trade qualification and no product registration. Most founders stop reading there, and that is where the real work begins. Under Swiss law a handbag, a belt or a wallet is a utility article, in the same legal family as clothing and jewellery, and whoever makes it, imports it or sells it must be able to show that it stays within the Swiss limits for chromium VI, azo dyes and nickel. Exotic leathers bring in the CITES rules, and the words Swiss made on a label are reserved for products that meet a precise cost test. The pages that rank for this search come from overseas manufacturers and forums; this guide sets out the Swiss rules, in the order a new brand meets them.
Contents
No licence, but a regulated product
Making and selling leather goods is an unrestricted activity in Switzerland. You can register a GmbH or an AG for a handbag brand without any diploma, and launch a collection without asking any authority first. What frames the business is how the law classifies the product. The Foodstuffs Act lists as utility articles “articles of clothing, textiles and other articles which, when used as normally intended, come into contact with the body” (Art. 5 let. d). Bags, belts, wallets and watch straps all fall into that category.
The consequence is a duty that applies from the first sale: “Any person who manufactures, handles, stores, transports, places on the market, imports, exports or carries in transit foodstuffs or utility articles must ensure that the statutory requirements are complied with. He or she is obliged to ensure self-supervision” (Art. 26 para. 1). Cantonal inspectors check after the fact, and “official inspection does not imply an exemption from the obligation to carry out self-supervision” (Art. 26 para. 2). The detailed limits sit in two ordinances: the Federal Department of Home Affairs ordinance on articles in contact with the human body (OCCH), which covers leather articles for the chemical substances they contain, and the Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance (ORRChem).
Made abroad: the importer carries the file
Many Swiss brands design at home and manufacture elsewhere. That does not move the legal responsibility abroad. The self-supervision duty quoted above names whoever “imports” and whoever “places on the market”, so a brand that brings in its own bags is responsible for their chemistry exactly as if it had sewn them.
Take a Dutch founder living in Lucerne who sets up a GmbH and sells handbags made by a workshop in northern Portugal, mainly through her own online shop. Before the first shipment she has the workshop commit in writing to the Swiss limits, and she asks for a laboratory report on chromium VI and on azo dye amines for every batch of leather, plus a nickel release test for each buckle and clasp model. She files these reports by product reference. If the cantonal laboratory buys one of her bags, the file is ready; if the workshop changes tannery, she asks for new reports before accepting the next delivery. She cannot label the bags Swiss made, and her marketing says designed in Lucerne instead.
Chromium VI, azo dyes and nickel
Three figures cover most of what a leather goods brand has to prove. Neither the OCCH nor the ORRChem has an official English version, so the limits are summarised below with their references.
| Substance | Swiss limit | Document to obtain | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chromium VI in leather | Leather articles in contact with the skin may not be placed on the market at 0.0003% of dry leather weight or more (3 mg/kg) | Lab report per leather batch | ORRChem, Annex 2.16, no. 1bis (version of 16 July 2026) |
| Aromatic amines from azo dyes | No more than 30 mg/kg in dyed leather articles listed in Annex 6, which names handbags, purses and wallets, briefcases, gloves, shoes and watch straps | Lab report on dyed leather and linings | OCCH, Art. 21 and Annexes 6 and 7 |
| Nickel from buckles, clasps, rivets, zips | No more than 0.5 µg per cm² per week; coatings must hold this for two years of normal use | Nickel release test per hardware model | OCCH, Art. 2 |
Swiss federal ordinances on Fedlex, checked on 13 October 2026.
Your leather goods brand in Switzerland
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Exotic leathers and CITES
Python, crocodile or lizard leather brings a second federal act into play: the Federal Act on the Trade in Protected Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES Act, SR 453). It does not only cover raw skins. Products made from a protected species count as specimens, and so does any item whose label, packaging or invoice says it comes from one. A bag sold as python is therefore within its scope.
- Permit: importing, transiting or exporting specimens of species listed in CITES Appendices I to III requires a permit from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), and each movement is declared at customs (Art. 6 and 7).
- Proof: anyone holding such specimens must have documents showing their origin and lawful trade, and must pass them on to the buyer (Art. 10).
- Register: businesses trading in listed species professionally keep a register of their specimens (Art. 11).
Many crocodilian, python and monitor lizard species are listed, but the trade name of a leather tells you nothing reliable. Check the exact species and its appendix in the Species+ database or with the FSVO before ordering skins or finished goods.
When a bag can be Swiss made
For trademark law, a bag is an industrial product. Two conditions apply together. First, “the origin of other products, in particular industrial products, corresponds to the place where at least 60 per cent of the manufacturing costs are incurred” (Art. 48c para. 1 Trade Mark Protection Act). Second, “an essential manufacturing step must have been carried out at this place” (Art. 48c para. 4). The implementing ordinance counts research and development, materials and manufacturing, while “costs incurred after the conclusion of the production process are not considered to be manufacturing costs” (Art. 52e para. 2 Trade Mark Protection Ordinance).
For materials, one permitted method counts a material at 100% if it meets the Swiss origin rules itself and at 0% if it does not (Art. 52i). Imported leather therefore usually counts as foreign. A bag designed in Switzerland and sewn in Portugal fails the essential manufacturing step test regardless of the percentage; a bag cut, stitched and assembled in a Swiss workshop can reach the threshold even with Italian leather. Our guide to starting a manufacturing company in Switzerland explains the calculation for other products.
My Swiss Company’s view
Decide on Swiss made before you choose your workshop, not after. Moving production later means new samples, new supplier reports and new packaging, and the label claim is the part of your branding that is hardest to walk back once customers have seen it.
Trademark, customs and VAT
File your trademark before you print labels. At the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI), a Swiss trademark costs CHF 450 for ten years of protection covering up to three classes, with a CHF 100 discount for electronic filing and CHF 100 for each further class. Leather goods are generally filed in class 18, belts in class 25 and watch straps in class 14. A Swiss trademark does not protect you in the European Union.
Since 1 January 2024 Switzerland has charged no customs duties on industrial products (chapters 25 to 97 of the Harmonised System), which includes leather (chapter 41) and leather goods (chapter 42). Import VAT at 8.1% remains due. Our page on Swiss customs duties covers the formalities.
Company, stock and accounting
A GmbH with CHF 20,000 of fully paid-up capital suits most brands at launch. An AG, with CHF 100,000 of share capital of which at least CHF 50,000 is paid up, makes sense once investors join or a large retailer expects it. The steps are described in our guide to company incorporation in Switzerland.
Stock is the heaviest item on a leather brand’s balance sheet: leather bought by the hide, hardware ordered by the thousand, finished bags waiting for the season. Accounting that tracks stock by reference, deposits paid to workshops and import VAT shows early whether a collection is making money or sitting in the warehouse.
Costly mistakes
- Importing a first collection with no chromium VI or azo reports.
- Assuming the foreign workshop is responsible: in Switzerland, the importer is.
- Accepting a delivery after a tannery change without new reports.
- Buying exotic leather on its trade name, without checking the species or obtaining an FSVO permit.
- Printing Swiss made on bags sewn abroad.
- Filing the trademark only in Switzerland while selling into the EU.
FAQ: starting a leather goods brand in Switzerland
Do you need a licence to sell leather goods in Switzerland?
No. Making, importing and selling leather goods requires no licence and no diploma. Leather articles are utility articles under the Foodstuffs Act, however, so the maker, importer or seller must carry out self-supervision (Art. 26) and respect the limits set by the OCCH and the ORRChem.
Who is responsible if my bags are made abroad?
You are, as the importer and the person placing them on the Swiss market. The self-supervision duty in Art. 26 of the Foodstuffs Act expressly covers importers. In practice, you obtain test reports from your manufacturer for each batch and keep them on file.
What is the chromium VI limit for leather in Switzerland?
Leather articles that come into contact with the skin may not be placed on the market if their chromium VI content reaches 0.0003% of dry leather weight, which is 3 mg/kg (ORRChem, Annex 2.16). Only a laboratory report can demonstrate compliance.
Can I sell python or crocodile bags?
Yes, if you follow the CITES Act. Importing specimens of species listed in CITES Appendices I to III, including finished products, requires an FSVO permit. Traders keep proof of origin, hand it to buyers and maintain a register of specimens.
Can a bag made with Italian leather be Swiss made?
Yes, if at least 60% of its manufacturing costs arise in Switzerland and an essential manufacturing step takes place there (Art. 48c Trade Mark Protection Act). Imported leather counts as foreign material, while Swiss design and workshop production count as Swiss. A bag made abroad cannot qualify.
How much does it cost to register a leather goods trademark?
The IPI charges CHF 450 for ten years and up to three classes, less CHF 100 for electronic filing. Leather goods generally fall in class 18. The protection covers Switzerland only.
Sources
- Federal Act on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (Foodstuffs Act), SR 817.0, Art. 5 and 26
- Ordinance on articles in contact with the human body (OCCH), SR 817.023.41 (French)
- Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance (ORRChem), SR 814.81, Annex 2.16 (French)
- Federal Act on the Trade in Protected Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES Act), SR 453 (French)
- Trade Mark Protection Act, SR 232.11, Art. 48c
- Trade Mark Protection Ordinance, SR 232.111, Art. 52e and 52i
- IPI, trade marks: costs and fees
- SECO, abolition of industrial tariffs
Conclusion
You can start a leather goods brand in Switzerland without any licence, but not without a file. Every bag, belt or wallet should be traceable to a chromium VI and azo dye report, every buckle to a nickel test, and every exotic skin to an FSVO permit and a register entry. Brands that build this file before their first shipment can answer a cantonal inspector, a retailer or a customer with the same documents, and can decide on Swiss made with the numbers in hand. My Swiss Company, a Swiss Corporate Services Provider in Geneva, Lucerne and Zug, incorporates and administers design-led brands for founders from more than 20 countries, from incorporation to stock accounting.
