SWISS voters have rejected a proposal to ban intensive livestock farming, with a public referendum held at the weekend.

According to Reuters the “no” vote was easily the most popular, with more than 60 percent voting against the proposed laws. The referendum was to give animals the right to not be factory farmed – a ban which would have affected the local beef industry and imports.

The vote has been a rare win for the European farming community in recent times, with governments in the The Netherlands and Ireland implementing potentially herd-reducing emissions legislation and a Dutch council banning meat advertising in public places.

Switzerland already has strict animal welfare laws and protections for the “dignity and welfare” of animals. Farm animals are required to live in “animal-friendly stables” and to have regular access to the outdoors.

A translated document on the Swiss Government’s website said the opponents the ban argued that the current animal welfare laws were sufficient.

“The Federal Council and Parliament reject the initiative. Farm animals are already very well protected and more and more (farms) are becoming particularly animal-friendly,” the document said.

“An import ban for products without an organic standard in animal husbandry be very hard to enforce and many foods would be expensive.”

The proposal to tighten the animal welfare laws had its supporters, with The Guardian reporting the vote was proposed in 2018 by an animal rights group called Sentience Politics and was backed by the local Green Party, Greenpeace, Switzerland’s Small Farms Association and other animal welfare groups.

But it was defeated comfortably with 25 out of 26 regions voting against it.