Export controls: dual-use goods, war material and the customs at Chiasso

The Goods Control Act and the Goods Control Ordinance

Sanctions are directed against particular states and persons. Export controls apply to particular goods, whatever their destination. The Swiss system rests on the Federal Act of 13 December 1996 on the Control of Dual-Use Goods, Specific Military Goods and Strategic Goods (Goods Control Act, GCA), SR 946.202, and on the Goods Control Ordinance of 3 June 2016 (GCO), SR 946.202.1.¹ The Act implements the international non-proliferation regimes in which Switzerland participates: the Wassenaar Arrangement for conventional arms and dual-use goods, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Australia Group for chemical and biological weapons, together with the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Act covers goods that are the subject of international agreements or of nonbinding international control measures, and the ordinance lists them in its annexes: nuclear and dual-use goods in Annex 2, specific military goods in Annex 3, strategic goods in Annex 4 and goods subject to national controls in Annex 5. Because Annex I of the European dual-use regulation implements the controls agreed in the same regimes, the Swiss and European lists largely coincide.²

The export, brokering and, in certain cases, the transit of listed goods require a licence from SECO. For goods that are not listed, a catch-all clause applies: anyone who wishes to export goods that he knows or has reason to believe are intended for the development, manufacture, use, passing on or deployment of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons must apply to SECO for a licence. Licences are refused where the activity would contravene international agreements or control measures supported by Switzerland, and also where there is reason to believe that it may benefit terrorist groups or organized crime.³ The Ukraine Ordinance adds its own export bans for dual-use goods and for goods that could strengthen Russia's military and technological capacity (Art. 3–5), which apply irrespective of the licensing regime of the Goods Control Act.

The criminal provisions of the Goods Control Act are stricter than those of the Embargo Act. Under Article 14 GCA, anyone who wilfully produces, brokers, exports or passes goods in transit without a licence, fails to comply with the conditions of a licence, provides false information or delivers goods to an unauthorized end user is liable to imprisonment or a fine of up to CHF 1 million. "In serious cases, the penalty is penal servitude not exceeding ten years, which may be combined with a fine not exceeding 5 million francs." Negligent violations carry imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to CHF 100,000.⁴ Offences against the Goods Control Act fall under federal jurisdiction and are prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General before the Federal Criminal Court.⁵ A judgment of the Appeals Chamber of that court of 6 September 2021 shows the reach of the law even in small cases. It confirmed the conviction of an Austrian national for the attempted export, without a licence, of a firewall device with cryptographic functions to Norway, punished with a conditional monetary penalty and a fine of CHF 800.⁶

Notes

1. Federal Act of 13 December 1996 on the Control of Dual-Use Goods, Specific Military Goods and Strategic Goods (Goods Control Act, GCA), SR 946.202, title as reproduced at https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202-14-17.html; Ordinance of 3 June 2016 on the Export, Import and Transit of Dual Use Goods, Specific Military Goods and Strategic Goods (Goods Control Ordinance, GCO), SR 946.202.1, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202.1-index.html. ↩
2. GCA, Art. 2 ("This Act applies to dual-use goods and specific military goods that form the subject matter of international agreements", with extension to goods subject to non-binding international control measures), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202-2-5.html; GCO, Art. 3 para. 1 (licence requirement for goods in Annex 2 Parts 1 and 2 and Annexes 3–5), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202.1-3-6.html; Regulation (EU) 2021/821, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/821/oj/eng, Annex I, introductory note ("implements internationally agreed dual-use controls, including the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)"). ↩
3. GCA, Art. 6 paras 1 and 1 bis, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202-6-9.html; GCO, Art. 3 para. 4, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202.1-3-6.html. ↩
4. GCA, Art. 14 paras 1–3, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202-14-17.html. ↩
5. GCA, Art. 18 para. 1 ("The prosecution and judgement of offences under Articles 14 and 15 are subject to federal criminal jurisdiction"), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/9/94/946.202-18-22.html. ↩
6. Federal Criminal Court, Appeals Chamber, judgment CA.2021.1 of 6 September 2021, https://entscheidsuche.ch/docs/CH_BSTG/CH_BSTG_001_CA-2021-1_2021-09-06.pdf (attempted violation of Art. 14 para. 1 lit. a GCA in conjunction with Art. 3 para. 1 GCO; conditional monetary penalty of 15 daily rates of CHF 320 and fine of CHF 800). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.