www.fhs.swiss Annual Report 2016 2016 Annual Report 1 FH Annual Report 2016 2 ISSN 1421-7384 The annual report is also available in French and German in paper or electronic format, upon request. © Fédération de l’industrie horlogère suisse FH, 2017 3 Table of contents The word of the President 4 Highlights 6 Swiss made – Entry into force of the revised ordinance 8 Hazardous substances – RoHS 2 China and other legislation 10 watch.swiss – Launch of the new FH travelling exhibition 12 Improvement of trade – Focus on four countries 14 Panorama of the 2016 activities 16 Improvement of framework conditions 18 Information and public relations 22 The fight against counterfeiting 25 Standardisation 33 Legal, economic and commercial services 34 Relations with the authorities and economic circles 35 FH centres abroad 37 The Swiss watch industry in 2016 38 Watch industry statistics 40 Structure of the FH in 2016 44 The FH in 2016 46 The General Meeting 47 The Board 48 The Bureau and Commissions 49 The Departments and the Services 50 The network of partners 51 The word of 5 the President The Swiss watch indus- sets out to be readily understandable and visually strong. try experienced its most This exhibition has now begun its career with a tour of Japan. challenging year since 2009 with exports 9.9% Wishing at all times to keep its members informed of draft lower than in 2015. Admit- laws that may affect them, the FH continued to monitor new tedly, the year 2016 did technical legislation, in particular REACH in Europe, the Toxic not bring any good news Substances Control Act in the United States and RoHS 2 in which might have reversed China. This Chinese legislation is not easy to understand the decline: currencies because the texts are lacking in clarity and precise answers remained volatile and the are hard to obtain. Nevertheless, the FH has done all it can Swiss franc overvalued, to keep its members as fully informed as possible. business was still very dif- ficult in Hong Kong and in True to its mission of promoting trade in the horological sec- Russia while terrorist atta- tor, the FH has intervened to improve background conditions cks continued in Europe. A abroad. In Russia it has obtained an agreement for watches number of votes created a degree of uncertainty, including to be treated as complicated products, so imposing normal the referendum on Brexit – even if our industry did benefit and reasonable warranty obligations on them. In addition, the locally from the weakness of the pound sterling – and the US FH intervened in Egypt and Brazil to secure simplification of Presidential election. Once again we noticed wide variations administrative formalities. between the players in the watch industry and once again it was the subcontractors who suffered most on the whole. On reading this annual report, you will therefore discover the However, we do expect the situation to stabilize in 2017. strong commitment made by the FH in favour of the Swiss watch industry. Our industry will stay on course and I remain The year saw the adoption by the Federal Council of the confident in its future. It has the resources needed to retain revised text of the ordinance governing the use of the desi- its leading ranking in the world: infrastructure, personnel, gnation “Swiss” for watches (OSM) after ten years of work. training and reputation. My contacts with our competitors We are satisfied with this new legislation which will safeguard have shown me that our industry remains the reference. May the credibility and value of the Swiss made label for the long- our branch exploit its advantages to the full! term. Consequently, it will strengthen future manufacturing activity in our country in order to comply with the new criteria, while at the same time respecting Switzerland’s international commitments. Jean-Daniel Pasche In order to promote the Swiss watch industry and its “Swiss- ness” – the word watch is synonymous with Switzerland while Switzerland is synonymous with watches – the FH has inau- gurated a new travelling exhibition called watch.swiss. This deliberately simple name with a modern reference to the web, Highlights 7 of 2016 The FH continued to work towards the attainment of its pri- ority objectives in 2016 and several decisive breakthroughs were made, beginning with the successful completion of a very long process. After almost ten years of work, the new regulation on the use of the term “Swiss made” in the watch industry was adopted by the Federal Council. In the course of this decade, many battles have been fought to strengthen this label in response to consumers’ expectations. Still in the legislative sphere, but at the other end of the planet, special attention was given to the RoHs 2 China legislation on dangerous substances. This requires compliance by electronic watches with binding new requirements. As part of its mandate to promote the industry, the FH launched a new exhibition named watch.swiss based on a new and res- olutely modern concept. Last but not least, work to improve background conditions on the markets bore fruit in Russia, Egypt, Iran and Brazil. 8 Swiss made Entry into force of the revised ordinance On 17 June 2016, after ten years of work, the Federal Coun- In brief, the Swissness project has so far been the subject of cil adopted the strengthened rules on Swiss made in the almost twenty votes in Parliament – including in the committees – watch industry embodied in a revised text of the ordinance to which the FH has made an active contribution. governing the use of the word “Swiss” for watches (OSM), which was scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2017, Turning to the strengthening of Swiss made in the watch industry, together with the whole Swissness package. the revised OSM lays down two new criteria for the determination of provenance, namely the introduction of a 60% rate of Swiss In June 2007, the General Meeting of the FH already accepted value calculated on the cost price of the cased up watch and a proposal for a review of the OSM and went on to forward movement and the need for technical development in Switzer- this to Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher, Head of the Fed- land, namely design and prototyping. According to the Swissness eral Department of Justice and Police. He answered that the legislation, which therefore likewise applies to the watch indus- demands of the watch industry would be taken into account try, natural products which do not exist in Switzerland can be as part of the Swissness project designed to strengthen pro- deducted from the cost price calculation; these include mineral tection of the Swiss made label for the entire Swiss economy. ores, which are automatically excluded. But the cost of materials which technically speaking could be produced in Switzerland but The parliamentary debates lasted for more than three in fact are not, can also be deducted. The industry concerned years (2010-2013). Work to implement Swissness and is responsible for publishing information about the availability action to oppose the motions and postulates seek- or non-availability of materials in Switzerland. The FH has been ing to weaken and defer entry into force of the pro- entrusted with that task for the Swiss watch industry. On its Inter- ject then followed. In September 2015, the Federal net site, it has published a list of materials that are deemed not Council decided that Swissness would take effect on to be available in Switzerland. It has also set up a platform for 1 January 2017. enterprises enabling them to notify materials. Nevertheless, the parliamentary initiatives continued in 2016. Three different cases can be envisaged in respect of branch lists: First of all, National Councillor Magdalena Martullo Blocher tabled a motion in the CER-CN (Commission on the Economy a. A component is objectively not available in Switzerland. In and Licence Fees of the National Council) seeking deferral that case, it will be entered on the list. Producers enjoy the of the entry into force of Swissness until 1 January 2018. presumption that this component can be excluded from However, the motion did allow the Federal Council to main- the calculation. tain application of the new rules to the watch industry on 1 January 2017 by amending the OSM. On 21 June 2016, the b. A component is objectively not available in sufficient quan- CER-CN held hearings in which the FH took part. Finally, after tities. In that case, it is entered on the list in proportion to animated discussion, the motion was withdrawn. its availability in Switzerland. In parallel, National Councillor Jürg Grossen also tabled a On the basis of these two instances, the FH list already contains motion seeking a reduction of the Swiss value percentage a number of materials which are published on its Internet site. from 60% to 50% in the case of industrial products. The Federal Council firmly rejected this demand, which is likely to c. A component is objectively available in Switzerland but, for be debated in the National Council in the course of the year economic reasons specific to a particular case, a producer is 2017, in other words after the entry into force of Swissness. unable to obtain deliveries. In that case, it cannot be included This motion has come in for extensive criticism by parlia- on the list because it is objectively available in a sufficient mentarians because it attacks a law even before it has taken quantity. This is a matter falling within the scope of compe- effect and one on which no referendum has been held.