A spare parts business in Geneva buys where the choice is, and the choice is mostly across the border. France, Germany and Italy are a morning’s drive away, customs duty on industrial products disappeared on 1 January 2024, and a European part usually arrives with a UNECE conformity mark that Swiss law accepts. On paper, nothing stands in the way.
What actually creates risk sits further down the chain: the handful of parts that require an attestation, the moment a distributor becomes a producer, the visible body parts protected by a registered design with no repair clause to fall back on, and the warranty a garage or a private customer can invoke two years later. This guide covers those four, then the cash reality of holding stock.
Contents
- Buying across the border
- Sorting the catalogue: conformity mark, attestation or nothing
- Used and reconditioned parts
- Your brand on the box: the producer’s obligations
- Body panels, headlights, wheels: design law
- Selling to garages and to private customers
- Foreign suppliers delivering into Geneva
- Stock, warehouse and cash
- The mistakes that cost money
Buying across the border
Since 1 January 2024 Switzerland has levied no import duty on industrial products under chapters 25 to 97 of the Harmonised System, whatever the origin of the goods. Vehicle parts sit in chapter 87, so a pallet of brake discs from Annemasse, Stuttgart or Shenzhen crosses duty free. Agricultural products remain excluded, and the tariff was simplified on the same date, with headings reduced from 9,114 to 7,511.
Import VAT remains due at the standard rate of 8.1% for most goods and is recovered as input tax by a VAT-registered business. For a dealer importing weekly, it is a cash flow line rather than a cost: the tax is advanced at the border and recovered on the next return.
Proof of origin is no longer required for industrial products meant to stay in Switzerland, but it is still needed for re-export and for cumulation of origin. A Geneva dealer supplying a customer in Haute-Savoie is re-exporting, and needs the paperwork the local business does not.
Worth knowing
Zero duty is not zero formality. The declaration still has to be made, import VAT still has to be advanced, and the goods still have to be lawful to place on the Swiss market. The filter moved from the tariff to the product file, which is exactly where an unprepared importer has nothing.
Sorting the catalogue: conformity mark, attestation or nothing
Under Art. 3 of the Ordinance on the Type Approval of Road Vehicles (TARV, SR 741.511), the objects listed in Annex 1 are subject to type approval. Two provisions then do most of the practical work for a dealer buying in Europe.
Art. 4(5) exempts from Swiss type approval vehicle components, items of equipment and protective devices bearing an EU, UNECE or OECD conformity mark. Art. 4(6) extends the exemption to other foreign marks recognised by the Federal Roads Office as at least equivalent. And Art. 4(7) provides that for the objects in Annex 1 no. 2, a conformity assessment, an attestation of conformity or a test report from a recognised inspection body is sufficient.
| Group | Objects concerned |
|---|---|
| Lighting (2.1) | Lighting devices and optical warning devices, automatic switching devices, anti-dazzle devices, prescribed retro-reflectors |
| Signalling (2.2) | Warning triangles, flashing lights, audible warning devices |
| Other systems (2.3) | Replacement silencers and catalytic converters not already approved with the vehicle, tachographs and accessories, gas containers, valves, safety devices and fixings, anti-skid devices recognised as snow chains, child restraint systems, mandatory speed limiters, motorcycle helmets, seat belts for motor cars and their anchorage points, agricultural cabs and roll bars, radiocommunication installations, vehicle electronic parts affecting exhaust emissions, noise or power that do not conform to the model approved for the vehicle type |
The practical test is therefore simple and worth applying line by line at the purchasing stage. A European part in one of these groups with a UNECE mark passes. The same part sourced outside those systems needs an attestation before it can be offered. And a tuning control unit that changes emissions, noise or power falls into group 2.3 regardless of how it is marketed.
Used and reconditioned parts
The second-hand trade around Geneva is significant, and it is not outside product law. Under the Product Safety Act (PrSA, SR 930.11), placing on the market means any supply of a product, whether for consideration or free of charge, and whether the product is new, used, reconditioned or substantially modified. A part remains a product even where it is supplied as components to be installed or assembled.
The decisive provision is the one on reconditioning: anyone who reconditions a product or otherwise alters its safety characteristics is a producer. A workshop that rebuilds starters, alternators or turbochargers and resells them is therefore the producer of what it sells, with the duty to be able to furnish proof of conformity and to monitor risks after the sale.
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Your brand on the box: the producer’s obligations
Many dealers package generic references under their own label, because it protects the supplier relationship and the margin. Under the Product Safety Act, anyone who presents themselves as the producer by affixing their name, trade mark or other distinctive sign is treated as the producer, as is anyone who represents a manufacturer established outside Switzerland.
Three duties follow. The product must present no or only a minimal risk to health or safety in normal or reasonably foreseeable use. Anyone placing it on the market must be able to furnish proof of conformity. And after the sale, appropriate measures are required to monitor risks, cooperate on traceability, examine complaints, and notify the competent enforcement body immediately of any risk identified, together with the corrective measures taken.
Exclusive representation of a foreign manufacturer has the same effect, which is often overlooked when a distribution agreement is signed for commercial reasons alone.
Body panels, headlights, wheels: design law
This is where Geneva’s proximity to France becomes a trap rather than an advantage. Under Art. 9(1) of the Designs Act (DesA, SR 232.12), the design right entitles its holder to prohibit third parties from using the design for industrial purposes, use meaning in particular manufacture, storage, offering, putting into circulation, import, export, transit and possession for those purposes. Art. 9(1bis) allows the holder to prohibit import, export and transit of industrially produced goods even where carried out for private purposes only.
Swiss law contains no repair clause. A full-text reading of the consolidated Designs Act shows no exception for replacement parts. So a body panel or headlight housing that a French distributor may lawfully supply for repair in the European Union can be blocked in Switzerland if the design is registered here.
Two limits apply. Protection is excluded where the features of the design result exclusively from the technical function of the product, which covers purely functional parts. And the right arises only through registration in the Designs Register, for five years from filing, renewable four times to a maximum of twenty-five years.
RISTER tip
Search the Designs Register before listing visible body parts, and keep the search results on file. A dealer who can show that no registered design covers a reference has an answer; one who never checked has none, and the holder can act at the border, on import and on transit, before a single part is sold.
Selling to garages and to private customers
The Code of Obligations treats the two differently, and your terms of sale should too. The seller warrants the qualities promised and the absence of defects that remove or substantially reduce the value or fitness of the goods, even where the seller was unaware of them. The buyer must inspect the goods as soon as customary in the ordinary course of business and give notice of any defect without delay, which is a real constraint for a garage receiving weekly deliveries.
Actions for defects are time-barred two years after delivery. Where the goods are intended for the buyer’s personal or family use and the seller acts in a professional capacity, any clause reducing the period below two years, or below one year for second-hand goods, is void. In other words, a shorter warranty may be agreed with a professional buyer but not with a private one.
Online sales follow the same logic with one addition: Swiss law provides no statutory right of withdrawal for distance selling, so the general terms and conditions are the contract, and price indication rules require the displayed price to be the price actually payable.
Foreign suppliers delivering into Geneva
A supplier established abroad who delivers to Swiss customers with duties and taxes paid becomes liable to Swiss VAT and generally needs a fiscal representative established in Switzerland. Swiss law does not make that representative jointly liable for the tax, unlike several European regimes, which is what makes the mandate workable here. Our fiscal representative service covers that arrangement.
For the Geneva dealer, the incoterm decides who carries what. If the supplier delivers duty paid, the Swiss VAT obligation is theirs and must be in place before the first shipment. If the dealer imports, the import VAT is theirs to advance and recover. Agreeing this in the supply contract avoids a supplier discovering the obligation months later and passing the cost back down.
Stock, warehouse and cash
The financial signature of this business is stock, not margin. References multiply faster than turnover, slow movers age quietly on the shelf, and import VAT is advanced on every consignment before the goods are sold. A dealer holding two thousand references with a six-month average rotation is financing a substantial part of the balance sheet with cash that never appears in the profit and loss account.
Three practices keep it under control: a stock valuation policy applied consistently from the first year, a written return and warranty policy agreed with suppliers rather than improvised per claim, and monthly monitoring of the VAT position so that recoverable input tax is not left idle. Warehouse premises follow the same discipline: a lease signed on surface area alone, without checking the zoning and the access for deliveries, is expensive to unwind.
The mistakes that cost money
The first is treating zero duty as zero obligation, when the declaration, the import VAT and the lawfulness of the goods all remain.
The second is building a catalogue without sorting Annex 1 no. 2, and discovering at an inspection that lighting or child restraints were sold without an attestation.
The third is the own-brand box, which turns a distributor into a producer under product safety law.
The fourth is importing visible body parts on the assumption that the European repair clause applies here. It does not.
The fifth is a single set of terms of sale for garages and private customers, with a warranty period that is void for the latter.
The sixth is letting a foreign supplier deliver duty paid without settling who registers for Swiss VAT and when.
FAQ: spare parts business in Geneva
Do parts bought in France enter Geneva free of customs duty?
Yes. Since 1 January 2024 Switzerland has abolished all import duties on industrial products under chapters 25 to 97 of the Harmonised System, whatever their origin, and vehicle parts fall under chapter 87. Import VAT remains payable at 8.1% and is recovered as input tax. Proof of origin is still needed for re-export and for cumulation of origin.
Which car parts require an attestation in Switzerland?
Those listed in Annex 1 no. 2 to the Ordinance on the Type Approval of Road Vehicles: lighting and optical warning devices, warning triangles, flashing lights and audible warning devices, replacement silencers and catalytic converters, tachographs, gas containers, snow chains, child restraint systems, speed limiters, helmets, seat belts and anchorages, radiocommunication installations and engine electronics affecting emissions, noise or power. A conformity assessment, attestation or test report from a recognised body suffices, and an EU, UNECE or OECD mark exempts the part from Swiss type approval.
Can used parts be sold in Geneva?
Yes, and they remain subject to product safety law. Placing on the market covers any supply of a product, for consideration or free of charge, whether new, used, reconditioned or substantially modified. A workshop that reconditions a part or alters its safety characteristics becomes its producer and must be able to furnish proof of conformity.
Must a Geneva garage inspect the parts it receives?
Yes. Under the Code of Obligations the buyer must inspect the goods as soon as customary in the ordinary course of business and give notice of any defect without delay. A garage that stores a delivery for weeks before opening it weakens its own position, since the notice requirement runs from the point at which inspection was customary.
Is selling compatible body parts free in Switzerland?
Only where no registered design covers them. Swiss law has no repair clause, so the holder of a registered design may prohibit manufacture, offering, putting into circulation, import, export and transit, even for private purposes. Purely functional parts are outside design protection, since protection is excluded where the features result exclusively from the technical function.
Does a foreign supplier delivering to Geneva customers need a fiscal representative?
A supplier established abroad who delivers with duties and taxes paid becomes liable to Swiss VAT and generally needs a fiscal representative established in Switzerland. Swiss law does not make that representative jointly liable for the tax, which differs from several European regimes.
Sources
- Ordinance on the Type Approval of Road Vehicles (TARV, SR 741.511), Art. 3, 4 and Annex 1
- Federal Roads Office, type approvals and recognised inspection bodies
- Product Safety Act (PrSA, SR 930.11), Art. 2, 3, 5 and 8
- Designs Act (DesA, SR 232.12), Art. 4, 5, 8 and 9
- Code of Obligations, Art. 197, 201 and 210
- State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, abolition of customs duties on industrial products
Conclusion
A spare parts business in Geneva is quick to start and slow to make safe. Duty free imports remove the historical barrier, but the catalogue still has to be sorted against Annex 1 no. 2, the own-brand box converts a distributor into a producer, visible body parts carry a design risk that European practice does not prepare you for, and the warranty runs for two years with no way to shorten it for private customers.
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