Government announces cuts to army exports
The Swiss government wants to reduce considerably its export of surplus army equipment, it announced on Friday. By 2010, the army has to dispose of a surplus worth SFr10 billion ($7.7 billion).
The cabinet said it would continue with its practice of approving all military exports before they can be shipped.
In the case of excess war materiel, this would have to be re-sold primarily to its country of origin or handed back without charge.
The defence ministry also announced that in future not only forwarding military equipment to a third country would be forbidden but also donating and loaning it.
As a rule Switzerland demands a guarantee from importing countries that war materiel bought from Switzerland will not be sold on.
In theory this should prevent arms ending up in countries involved in conflict and to which Switzerland has not approved export.
The defence ministry said Switzerland would in special cases stipulate the right to perform follow-up inspections, saying closer cooperation would make it easier to monitor whether the declaration of not forwarding on materiel was being adhered to.
It added that it should be seen to that importing countries also regard their guarantees as binding.
Tank trouble
Switzerland’s arms-export policies have not been without controversy.
In June 2005 the Swiss cabinet approved the sale of 180 used armoured personnel carriers to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for SFr12 million ($9.4 million) but suspended the sale in August, following reports that the carriers would not be used for civilian purposes. In October the UAE cancelled the deal because of the delay.
The Swiss government had wanted guarantees that the vehicles would be deployed for civilian purposes.
The UAE said the unarmed tanks would be given free to Iraq to boost efforts by police to enforce law and order but it was reported that the M113 armoured personnel carriers would be used by Iraqi troops.
Days after Switzerland suspended the sale, Swiss arms-export policy was thrown into disarray when it was revealed that 40 tanks sold to the UAE in 2004 had been sent to Morocco in a clear breach of the end-user certificate.
The Middle East nation said it had obtained permission from the United States, which built the tanks, but not the Swiss authorities. Economics Minister Joseph Deiss said the Swiss would probably not have approved their export to Morocco.
swissinfo with agencies
The export of arms and weapons components is subject to approval by the Swiss authorities.
In Switzerland war materiel is subject to a law which forbids any sale to countries involved in conflict.
The legislation covers arms systems, ammunition and explosives as well as other material used for combat training.
By 2010, the Swiss army has to dispose of a surplus worth SFr10 billion ($7.7 billion), including 1,200 M109 and M113 armoured vehicles. These include:
200 personnel carriers
30 helicopters
45 combat jets
2,600 tons of barbed wire
230 tons of tents
Swiss arms exports:
2005: SFr257.7 million
2004: SFr402 million
2003: SFr379 million
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.