The present Ordinance enforces the Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes of 22 September 2010 and the Animal Protection Act. In particular, the Ordinance lays down provisions relating to animals used for experiments or for certain other purposes. Article 1 establishes that whoever carries out animal experiments must ensure that conditions comply with requirements listed in the afore-mentioned EU-Directive. The text consists of 48 articles divided into 4 Parts as follows: Keeping of vertebrates and cephalopods for use in animal experiments or other scientific purposes (1); Implementation, approval and notification of animal experiments (2); Penalties (3); Transitional and final provisions (4).