Swiss parliament tightens rules against fur abusers

Parliament tightens rules against fur abusers Keystone-SDA

The Swiss parliament intends to ban the import of and trade in fur produced through cruel practices. Following the House of Representatives, the Senate has also approved the indirect counter-proposal to the so-called Fur Initiative.

The Senate adopted the amendments to the Animal Welfare Act by 43 votes in favour to one against, with no abstentions. The House of Representatives had already approved them during the autumn session a year ago. Due to two differences on minor points, the House of Representatives must now reconsider the matter. Among other things, this concerns the title of the new provisions in the Act.

In particular, the Senate was divided over whether the certification of permissible furs and fur products should be carried out by the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs, as desired by the government. The majority of the preliminary committee, however, wanted instead to entrust the Swiss Accreditation Service with deciding on the recognition of certification bodies. It did not, however, succeed in getting its way. The Senate decided by 40 votes to two, with one abstention, to stick with the government’s draft.

Animal welfare organisations had criticised in the run-up to the vote that the proposed amendment would render the indirect counter-proposal ineffective.

The Senate has not yet reached a decision on the initiative “Yes to a ban on the import of fur products produced through cruelty to animals”. It will only do so once the counter-proposal has been finalised. The popular initiative calls for a ban on the import of fur products whose production contravenes Swiss law. The government and the majority of the House of Representatives consider this to be problematic from a trade law perspective and recommend rejecting the popular initiative.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.