Switzerland to hold public vote on foie gras, fur import ban
- Campaigners from the Swiss Animal Alliance, which launched the move, piled up boxes symbolising the certified signatures to trigger a public vote
- The alliance said more than half of the furs come from China, where ‘conditions in which animals are detained and killed … are regularly denounced’
The Swiss will decide whether to ban foie gras and fur imports after campaigners on Thursday handed in enough signatures to trigger a public vote on the twin issues.
Outside the Federal Palace parliament buildings in the capital Bern, campaigners from the Swiss Animal Alliance, which launched the move, piled up boxes symbolising the certified signatures.
The popular initiative on foie gras collected 106,448 signatures, while the one on fur attracted 116,140 - both above the 100,000 threshold required to trigger a national vote.
Foie gras is widely consumed around the December holiday season, giving extra resonance to the campaign.
Force-feeding ducks and geese - a key way of making foie gras - has been banned in Switzerland for more than 40 years, but importing produce derived from this method is not.
The popular initiative “Yes to the ban on importing foie gras” wants to change the constitution to ban the import of such products.
The second proposal is titled “Yes to the ban on importing fur products from mistreated animals”.
