Due to Switzerland's federal and decentralized organization, the responsibility for ensuring the supply of medicines is shared between the private sector, the cantons and the Confederation, depending on the situation.
As explained elsewhere on this website, under the National Economic Supply Act (NESA), the private sector is primarily responsible for ensuring an adequate supply of medicines and other goods in Switzerland. At the state level, medical care and the provision of medicines are the responsibility of the cantons. According to the Federal Constitution (Art. 102 Cst.), the Confederation ensures the supply of essential goods and services only in the event of a threat of political-military conflict or war, or in the event of severe shortages that the economy cannot cope with on its own.
With the NESA, the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) has a legal basis to take measures to ensure the supply of essential goods in the event of severe shortages that cannot be countered by the economy itself (subsidiarity principle). It can do this either by supporting the supply (by drawing on compulsory reserves) or by managing the demand (prioritized distribution and allocation).
The active ingredients subject to notification are listed in the Ordinance on the Reporting Office for Essential Medicinal Products for Human Use (SR 531.215.32, available only in German, French and Italian).
The FOPH, by contrast, is only indirectly responsible for the supply of medicines in Switzerland. In normal times, the FOPH analyses and coordinates the measures defined within the framework of the Federal Council's overall health strategy for 2020-2030.