Jordan rebuffs Swiss arms control inspectors

Jordan partially denies Switzerland arms control Keystone-SDA

Jordan refused to fully cooperate with a Swiss delegation sent to inspect weapons exported from the Alpine state last year.

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This is revealed in a report by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), which was first reported by Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

+ Switzerland eases arms export rules as Europe shuns industry

Countries that import Swiss weapons are not allowed to re-sell wihtout permission. Switzerland can check whether the war materiel is still in the country during so-called post-shipment verifications (PSV) on site.

A Seco report states that only then can it be seen how seriously the country of destination actually takes the intergovernmental obligation.

Jordan did not fulfil the PSV of early February 2025, as Seco writes. This is because certain weapons were not allowed to be inspected. There was also “no trace” of individual weapons, according to the report.

Swiss state broadcaster SRF received the report based on the principle of public access and made it available to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Vote on loosening export rules

In the future such weapons inspections could become less frequent, writes SRF.

Parliament has relaxed the War Materiel Act in several respects. Purchasing countries will no longer be required to guarantee in every case that they will not transfer weapons. This would also eliminate the possibility of on-site inspections.

However, the law change has been challenged by a people’s initiative submitted in April with 75,000 signatures. A nationwide vote on the issue will take place no earlier than September.

Adapted from German by AI/mga

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