Step towards looser arms re-export rules

The Upper House of Parliament, the Council of States, has taken the first step of loosening the laws restricting the re-sale of Swiss-made arms and munitions.

Currently, customers of Swiss weapons are unable to sell or donate the equipment to other countries that are engaged in conflict, which has become a major problem for those states that wish to assist Ukraine. 

Many countries have pledged to stop buying from Switzerland. 

But the house voted to permit requests from 25 countries to allow re-export. 

It is mainly European countries, as well as the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Argentina.  

Supporters say the Swiss arms industry needs the business to make domestic production profitable. Without it, they say, Switzerland will have less effective weaponry available for itself. 

The Lower House still needs to vote, where there could be stronger opposition.

 

 

More from Bitesize News

  • Geneva could foot the G7 bill

    Geneva fears it will be left with the security bill from a G7 summit just across the border in Évian, according to 24 heures.

  • US NGO discovers Swiss child abuse cases

    Switzerland relies too heavily on an American NGO to detect child sexual abuse online, raising questions about the country's ability to protect children on its own.

  • French singer banned by Paleo

    The Paléo Festival in Nyon says it will no longer invite French singer Patrick Bruel, after a former volunteer accused him of inappropriate behaviour.

  • Cars going uninspected

    The cantons are struggling to keep up with mandatory vehicle inspections, leaving more than 550,000 checks overdue nationwide.

  • War may lead to rent rises

    Rents may rise again, says the bank Raiffeisen.

  • Not a heatwave, yet

    Summer has arrived, with temperatures climbing past 30 over the long weekend. Basel reached 31 and Sion hit 32.4, but MeteoSwiss, says this does not yet count as an official heatwave.

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play