Swiss War Materiel and Arms Exports

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Swiss electronics in Kim Jong Un’s missiles against Ukraine

Goods category: Unclear

Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, 27.02.2019; cropped image.

Public Domain (US-Regierungswerk; PD-USGov-POTUS)

Conflict Armament Research (CAR) found electronic components linked to companies based in Switzerland in a North Korean missile used by Russia against Ukraine. In February 2024, SECO confirmed that it was investigating the supply routes. This did not publicly establish whether the components had been manufactured in Switzerland or through which intermediaries they had reached North Korea. CAR’s Field Dispatch 13 provides details of the finding: on 27 January and 1 February 2024, investigators examined remnants of a North Korean ballistic missile recovered in Kharkiv on 2 January 2024. From the markings, CAR identified links to 26 companies in eight countries, including Switzerland.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. The Federal Council could add North Korea and Russia to Annex 2 by amending the War Materiel Ordinance. This would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. Article 18 paragraph 1 would abolish non-re-export declarations in the vast majority of cases. Weapons for North Korea and Russia could thus easily be supplied through a subsidiary or intermediary in a third country. For example, the following states could serve as third countries, having supplied substantial quantities of war materiel in recent years according to SIPRI: Russia: Italy (54 million TIV).

Countries

Conflicts

Time period

2024

Sources