🇨🇭How to verify a supplier in Switzerland
To verify a supplier in Switzerland, look the company up for free in the official Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers and confirm it is registered and currently active. The registry returns registered name, UID, registered seat, legal form, and a link to the cantonal register with purpose and signatories.
The official registry
- Registry
- Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers
- Company ID
- UID (CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx)
- Cost
- Free basic lookup
- Active status
- The cantonal register shows whether the entity is active or in liquidation; the UID can be checked in the federal UID register (uid.admin.ch).
- Switzerland is outside the EU, so there is no VIES check; the UID register is the equivalent official confirmation.
Sector export licences
Being a registered, active company is not the same as being allowed to export a specific product. In Switzerland, these sectors carry their own export licence or certificate from a named regulator, so a genuine exporter of these goods holds a current one. Ask for it, then check it at the source.
- pharmaceuticalsmandatory
GMP certificate from the Swissmedic.
Check the operational authorization and GMP validity date in the Swissmedic corporate register.
Official source - dairymandatory
export certificate from the Federal Office for Agriculture.
Validate organic or standard dairy certification records on the BLW agribusiness portal.
Official source
This is a factual pointer to public records, not legal advice, and the list is not exhaustive.
Before you sign: five asks no registry can answer
The register proves the company exists and who signs. It says nothing about whether the supplier survives a bad quarter, a fire or a key person leaving. Serious suppliers answer these five asks without friction; hesitation on any of them is information too.
- Business continuity: what happens to your order if their plant loses power, a strike hits or their systems go down? Ask for the plan, not a reassurance.
- Liability insurance: is product or professional liability insured, with which insurer and to what ceiling? A certificate of insurance is a one-page email for a real firm.
- Exit terms: how do you terminate if it goes wrong, what notice and fees apply, and how do you get your tooling, molds or data back?
- Support in numbers: ask for response and resolution times as figures, not adjectives. A supplier who commits to hours in writing has a support process; one who writes fast support does not.
- Named people: who exactly runs production and who owns your account? Continuity of a named team matters more than a polished sales deck, and employee-review sites often show whether that team stays.
General commercial hygiene, not legal advice.
Verify it in four steps
- 1
Open the Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers
Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers is the official government record of companies in Switzerland. Basic name or number search is free.
- 2
Search the exact legal name or ID
Search the supplier's registered name or its UID (CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx). If the name does not match cleanly, treat it as a red flag, it may be a trade name, a different entity, or wrong.
- 3
Confirm it is active, not struck off
The cantonal register shows whether the entity is active or in liquidation; the UID can be checked in the federal UID register (uid.admin.ch).
- 4
Check it makes what it sells
A real factory carries a manufacturing activity code and a consistent trade history; a middleman reselling everything is the most common mismatch.
This is a factual pointer to public records, not legal advice. For the full method, see the 7 checks that separate a real supplier from a scam.
We do this check for you
On every Switzerland company we list, we show what the open record says, each linked to its free public source so you can re-check it yourself, no paid badge. And we go past the big directories to the local and craft makers who are too small for them but real, then verify and sort them, so you find genuine Switzerland suppliers, not just the loudest.
Switzerland suppliers by sector
Every company on these pages shows what the open record says about it, each fact linked to its free public source.
Related guides
Questions
Is checking a Switzerland supplier free?
Yes. A basic name or number lookup in the Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers is free. Some full official extracts are paid, but confirming a company exists and is active costs nothing.
What ID does a Switzerland company have?
Its UID (CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx). Ask the supplier for it, then confirm it in the Zefix (central business name index) + cantonal commercial registers and check the registered name matches.
How do I know a Switzerland supplier is a real manufacturer, not a reseller?
The registry's activity code is the tell: a manufacturing code means a real maker, a wholesale or retail code means a trader. Switzerland is outside the EU, so there is no VIES check; the UID register is the equivalent official confirmation.