Export control exemptions to apply to all EU and EFTA states

Press releasePublished on 27 May 2026

Export control exemptions to apply to all EU and EFTA states

Berne, 27.05.2026 - On 27 May 2026, the Federal Council decided to extend country-specific exemptions under Swiss export control legislation on trade in military equipment to include all EU and EFTA states. The annexes to three federal ordinances will be amended accordingly. As of 1 July, states added to the lists will benefit from the same concessions as those already applicable to most EU member states and to Norway.

The Federal Council has decided to update Annex 2 to the War Materiel Ordinance (WMO), Annex 7 to the Goods Control Ordinance and Annex 34 to the Ukraine Ordinance, effective 1 July 2026. EFTA member Iceland and EU members Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be added to the country lists, meaning that all European Economic Area (EEA) States will benefit from export control exemptions (see box) from that date.

All EU member states already apply the internationally harmonised control lists under the relevant EU regulations and are bound by the same export control principles as Switzerland. Iceland likewise subscribes to these export control principles.

The updated annexes further clarify the legal baseline ahead of the autumn 2026 referendum. On 19 December 2025, Parliament adopted the revised War Materiel Act (WMA), which provides that a partner state listed in Annex 2 to the War Materiel Ordinance may continue to receive war materiel even if it is involved in an armed conflict, provided it does not use the war materiel in that conflict and provided this is consistent with the law of neutrality, human rights and Switzerland's other international obligations.

Current export control exemptions:

Annex 2 to the War Materiel Ordinance confers the following exemptions:

· No specific licence is required for the brokerage or the trade in war materiel;

· No specific licence is required relating to the transfer of intellectual property, including know-how, related to war materiel, or the granting of rights thereto;

· Possibility to grant a general transit licence;

· As a general rule, no non-re-export declaration required for the export of individual parts and assembly packages where their manufacturing value accounts for less than 50% of that of the finished goods;

· No post-shipment verifications of war materiel supplied from Switzerland, and accordingly no corresponding clause required in the non-re-export declaration.

Annex 7 to the Goods Control Ordinance contains the list of countries for which an ordinary general export licence may be issued for the export of nuclear goods, dual-use goods, specific military goods and nationally controlled goods.

Annex 34 to the Ukraine Ordinance contains the list of countries to which goods intended for incorporation may be delivered. This means that goods intended for incorporation into military equipment, where their manufacturing costs are less than 50% of the manufacturing costs of the finished military equipment, are exempt from:

· the military equipment embargo, where the goods in question are military equipment;

· prohibitions and licensing requirements, where the goods in question fall under dual-use goods, goods for military and technological capacity building or the development of the defence and security sector, maritime goods and technologies, or jet fuels and fuel additives.

• Foreign affairs
• Foreign affairs: Foreign policy
• Foreign affairs: European Union
• Foreign affairs: Switzerland and Europe
• Federal Council
• Economic & Financial Centre