11 dicembre 2019 – At its meeting on 6 December 2019, the Federal Council took note of the evaluation report on the Human Research Act (Humanforschungsgesetz; HRA; SR 810.30). The HRA, which has been in force since 2014, has overall achieved its objectives, but can still be improved. The evaluation report contains a list of 13 recommendations to ensure up-to-date research conditions. In particular, the report stresses the importance of taking European standards into account when designing Swiss regulations and points out the potential for improvement in the area of transparency. The report also recommends that legislation should specify the rules for anonymizing and encrypting data, which are interpreted too heterogeneous. Most of the recommendations in the report require an adaptation of the Human Research Ordinance [Humanforschungsverordnung; SR 810.301). The Federal Council instructed the Federal Department of Home Affairs to submit a proposal for this adaptation. The corresponding legislative process by consultation is to be launched in 2020. For further information, see here.