Switzerland: Federal Popular Initiative "Yes to a Future Without Animal Testing" Achieves Validity

On January 16, 2025, the Federal Chancellery announced that the federal popular initiative "Yes to a Future Without Animal Testing," submitted on November 11, 2024, has officially achieved formal validity. The initiative seeks to ban animal testing entirely, including the keeping, breeding, or trading of animals for such purposes. If approved in a public vote, animal testing involving severity level 3, as well as testing for education and basic research, would be immediately prohibited. All other forms of animal testing would be banned no later than seven years after the initiative's acceptance. Previous attempts to abolish animal testing in Switzerland have been unsuccessful.