In 2004, Switzerland sold a total of 40 decommissioned M109 self-propelled howitzers to the United Arab Emirates for around four million Swiss francs. The Emirates gave the vehicles to Morocco despite having undertaken to retain them as the end user. They obtained the consent of the United States, the original manufacturer’s country, but not the required Swiss consent. The transfer, revealed in 2005, led to restrictions on further exports to the Emirates; in March 2006, these were stopped entirely. In a letter dated 30 May 2006, the Emirates apologised and said they had considered US consent sufficient. On 28 June 2006, the Federal Council lifted the ban. By August, new or previously suspended deals worth around one million Swiss francs had been authorised. In 2006, the National Council’s Control Committee found that the Department of Defence had information indicating a possible onward transfer before the sale, but the responsible Department of Economic Affairs received it only in late March 2005. It criticised the flow of information between departments, while considering the original authorisation lawful based on SECO’s knowledge at the time. In 2004, Switzerland rejected deals involving decommissioned M109 self-propelled howitzers for Bolivia, Belarus and Ukraine. These decisions were publicly mentioned in 2005 during the review of the transfer of 40 M109s to Morocco via the United Arab Emirates.