Animal welfare Parliament wants to label meat from transported animals
Parliament wants a declaration requirement for meat from animals transported abroad over several days. After the National Council, the Council of States also voted in favor of the motion from the Green parliamentary group on Thursday by 20 votes to 18 with four abstentions.
05.03.2026, 12:18
SDA
With its approval, the Council followed a center-left minority of its Committee for Science, Education and Culture (WBK-S), which recommended the motion be adopted. According to the motion, the Federal Council must draw up an obligation to declare the origin and country of processing for foreign meat from animal transports lasting several days.
The minority argued that strict standards and labels exist for Swiss meat. For imported products, however, there are no corresponding declaration regulations for live transport, which is why consumers are often unable to obtain sufficient information.
The conditions under which animals are kept during transportation abroad are often catastrophic. This favors pandemics and diseases, but above all, these husbandry conditions are cruel to animals. Cheap meat from abroad is also sold by discounters in Switzerland. While high standards apply here, these are often not applied to foreign meat.
The initiative is the brainchild of National Councillor Meret Schneider (Greens/ZH). Originally, it also provided for customs restrictions on meat from animals transported above ground. However, the Council of States abandoned this demand - just as the National Council did in the 2024 spring session.
Discussion in the EU deadlocked
The majority of the Committee unsuccessfully requested that the motion be rejected. "The motion creates additional import barriers," said Matthias Michel (FDP/ZG) in the Council on Thursday. Strict regulations for animal transportation already exist in Switzerland. The transparency rules had also been tightened since the motion was submitted. Implementation would not be practicable.
The Federal Council also called for the motion to be rejected. The cost of mandatory declaration would be disproportionately high and the measure could not be implemented, for example for processed products. The country of origin of the animal and the place of processing must already be stated for meat.
According to a decision in December 2023, the EU Commission also wants animal transportation to be shortened. However, negotiations are deadlocked both in the European Parliament and among the 27 EU governments.
