Switzerland: Parliament wants labeling requirement for meat from multi-day animal transports abroad

Parliament wants to introduce a declaration requirement for meat from animals transported abroad over several days. After the National Council, the Council of States also approved the corresponding motion today. 

The Council thus followed a minority of the Committee for Science, Education and Culture (WBK-S), which had recommended adopting the motion. 

The rationale was that strict standards and labels exist for Swiss meat. For imported products, however, there are no comparable labeling rules for live animal transports, meaning consumers often do not receive sufficient information. Transport conditions are often disastrous, which leads to cruelty to animals and also promotes pandemics and diseases. 

The Federal Council is now obliged to establish a labeling requirement indicating the origin and processing country of foreign meat from multi-day animal transports.