Animal Welfare Act
(AniWA)

¹ The pro­sec­u­tion and ad­ju­dic­a­tion of of­fences is a mat­ter for the can­tons.

² The FS­VO shall in­vest­ig­ate and judge con­tra­ven­tions as defined in Art­icle 27 para­graph 2 that come to light in the con­text of the im­port, trans­it or ex­port of an­im­als and an­im­al products at the au­thor­ised bor­der in­spec­tion points. If, at the same time, there has been a con­tra­ven­tion of the Cus­toms Act of 18 March 2005⁴⁵ or the Value Ad­ded Tax Act of 12 June 2009⁴⁶, the Fed­er­al Of­fice for Cus­toms and Bor­der Se­cur­ity (FO­CBS) shall in­vest­ig­ate and judge the con­tra­ven­tions.⁴⁷

³ If, in the im­port, trans­it or ex­port of an­im­als and an­im­al products out­side of the au­thor­ised bor­der in­spec­tion points, there is at the same time a con­tra­ven­tion of the Cus­toms Act of 18 March 2005 or the Value Ad­ded Tax Act of 12 June 2009, the FO­CBS shall in­vest­ig­ate and judge the con­tra­ven­tions.⁴⁸

⁴ If any con­tra­ven­tion as defined in para­graph 1, 2 or 3 sim­ul­tan­eously con­sti­tutes a con­tra­ven­tion to be pro­sec­uted by the same fed­er­al au­thor­ity un­der the Fed­er­al Act of 16 March 2012⁴⁹ on Trade in Pro­tec­ted An­im­al and Plant Spe­cies, the Cus­toms Act of 18 March 2005, the Value Ad­ded Tax Act of 12 June 2009, the Food­stuffs Act of 20 June 2014⁵⁰, the Epi­zo­ot­ic Dis­eases Act of 1 Ju­ly 1966⁵¹, the Hunt­ing Act of 20 June 1986⁵² or the Fed­er­al Act of 21 June 1991⁵³ on Fish­ing, then the pen­alty for the most ser­i­ous con­tra­ven­tion ap­plies; it may be in­creased com­men­sur­ately.⁵⁴