Animal Protection Demands Strong Counter-Proposal to Foie Gras Initiative

“Switzerland must no longer turn a blind eye to imported animal suffering. An effective counter- proposal is necessary to at least significantly reduce the import of foie gras obtained from force- feeding,” says Lauretta Eckhardt, Policy Manager at FOUR PAWS Switzerland.

The version of the counter-proposal suggested by the majority of the National Council's preliminary commission foresees that the responsible departments issue a report on the development of foie gras imports every five years. If the imported quantity has not decreased in this period, the Federal Council would need to take necessary reduction measures. However, from an animal protection perspective, this is not adequate. To consider the counter-proposal as effective and suitable, we call for the following amendments from the National Council:

Mandatory Monitoring with Annual Reporting

The introduction of monitoring is crucial. This should be based on uniform and transparent criteria and take external influencing factors into account. To ensure the instrument's effectiveness, an annual report from the responsible authority to the Federal Council is necessary. These reports should especially detail the development of import quantities and assess the impact of measures taken up to that point clearly and understandably. The current counter-proposal provides the foundation for this but needs improvement.

Yes to the Minority on Article 14a Paragraph 4

A minor reduction in import quantities must not be seen as a sufficient success of measures taken up to that point. Therefore, as the minority of the preliminary National Council commission demands, further measures must be taken whenever foie gras imports have not decreased "noticeably" within the respective reporting period.

Effective Measures Required

Possible reduction measures could include information campaigns or extended labeling requirements, such as images of the force-feeding process. However, we reject limiting imports to specific labels, as there simply are no labels that ensure acceptable production of foie gras. Also, a temporal restriction of imports, for example, to festive periods, would be unsuitable in our view, as it would merely lead to a concentration of imports within the allowed times.

If it turns out less stringent measures are insufficient, we demand an import ban on foie gras. What is crucial is that the overarching goal – the effective reduction of animal suffering caused by force-feeding – is achieved.

Yes to the Majority regarding Food Law Art. 12a

For the sake of legal certainty and to give more weight to the declaration duty, we support the majority that favors the anchoring of the declaration duty in the Federal Act on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles.

Photos

Photos may be used free of charge. They may only be used for reporting on this press release. A simple (non-exclusive, non- transferable) and non-assignable license is granted for this reporting. Future reuse of the photos is only permitted with prior written consent from FOUR PAWS.

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Media Contact:
Oliver Loga
Press Manager Switzerland
FOUR PAWS – Foundation for Animal Protection
Altstetterstrasse 124
8048 Zurich
Tel. +41 43 311 80 90
presse@vier-pfoten.ch
www.vier-pfoten.ch

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher. Image rights: VIER PFOTEN - Stiftung für Tierschutz