Stem Cell Research Act (StRA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 17 Implementing provisions
The Federal Council shall: a. specify the modalities of consent and the modalities and extent of information provision under Article 5; b. specify in more detail the requirements for licences and the procedures for licensing under Articles 7, 8, 10 and 15; c. specify in more detail the duties of the licensee under Article 9 and of persons subject to licensing requirements under Articles 10 and 15; d. specify in more detail the content of the notification requirement and the duties of the persons subject to notification requirements and of the project manager under Articles 13 and 16; e. specify in more detail the content of the register to be maintained under Article 18; f. set the charges to be levied under Article 22.
Art. 18 Register
The Federal Office shall maintain a public register of the embryonic stem cells present in this country and of research projects.
Art. 19 Monitoring
1 The Federal Office shall monitor compliance with the requirements of this Act. To this end, it shall in particular conduct periodic inspections. 2 In the performance of this task, it is empowered: a. to request that the necessary information and documents be made available free of charge; b. to enter operating and storage facilities; c. to request that any other necessary support be provided free of charge.
Art. 20 Duty of cooperation
Any person involved in the handling of surplus embryos or embryonic stem cells must assist the Federal Office, free of charge, in the discharge of its functions and in particular: a. provide it with information; b. allow it to inspect documents; c. grant it access to operating and storage facilities.
Art. 21 Measures
1 The Federal Office shall take all the measures required for the enforcement of this Act. 2 It is in particular empowered: a. to issue notices of non-compliance and set an appropriate period for corrective action; b. to suspend or revoke licences; c. to seize and destroy embryos or embryonic stem cells that do not meet the requirements of this Act, as well as clones, chimeras, hybrids or parthenotes. 3 It shall take the necessary precautionary measures. It is in particular empowered, even in the event of a justified suspicion of non-compliance, to impound the embryos, embryonic stem cells, clones, chimeras, hybrids or parthenotes in question. 4 In the event of suspected contravention of this Act, the customs authorities are empowered to stop consignments of embryos, embryonic stem cells, clones, chimeras, hybrids or parthenotes at frontier points or in customs warehouses and to call in the Federal Office. The latter shall undertake further investigations and take the necessary measure
Art. 22 Charges
Charges shall be levied for: a. granting, suspending and revoking licences; b. performing controls; c. ordering and implementing measures.
Art. 23 Evaluation
1 The Federal Office shall be responsible for evaluation of the effectiveness of this Act. 2 On completion of the evaluation, but no later than five years after the commencement of this Act, the Federal Department of Home Affairs shall report to the Federal Council and submit proposals for future action.