946.202

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.

Federal Act
on the Control of Dual-Use Goods and of
Specific Military Goods

(Goods Control Act, GCA)

of 13 December 1996 (Status as of 1 January 2010)

The Federal Assembly the Swiss Confederation,

based on the powers of the Confederation in foreign affairs¹ as well as on Article 64^bis of the Federal Constitution²,³ and having considered the Federal Council Dispatch dated 22 February 1995⁴,

decrees:

Section 1: General Provisions

Art. 1 Purpose

Art. 2 Scope of application

Art. 3 Definitions

Section 2: Control Measures

Art. 4 Implementation of international agreements

Art. 5 Support for other international control measures

Art. 6 Refusal of licences

Art. 7 Revocation of licences

Art. 8 Measures in relation to specific countries of destination

Section 3: Monitoring

Art. 9 Duty to provide information

Art. 10 Powers of the control authorities

Section 4: Procedures and Reporting

Art. 11 Jurisdiction and procedure

Art. 12 Appeals procedure

Art. 13 Reporting

Section 5: Criminal Provisions⁵

Art. 14 Felonies and misdemeanours

Art. 15 Contraventions

Art. 15a Administrative offences

Art. 16 Offences by commercial enterprises

Art. 17 Confiscation of Material

Art. 18 Jurisdiction and duty to report

Section 6: Cooperation among Authorities

Art. 19 Administrative assistance within Switzerland

Art. 20 Administrative assistance between Swiss and foreign authorities

Art. 21 Information service

Section 7: Final Provisions

Art. 22 Implementation

Art. 23 Referendum and commencement

Commencement date: 1 October 1997⁶

AS 1997 1697

¹ Powers in accordance with Art. 54 para. 1 of the Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 (SR 101)
² [BS 1 3]. This provision now corresponds to Art. 123 of the Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 (SR 101).
³ Amended in accordance with No. I 4 of the Federal Act of 22 June 2001 on the Streamlining of Federal Legislation on Arms, War Material, Explosives and Goods Usable for Civilian and Military Purposes, in force since 1 March 2002 (AS 2002 248 257, BBl 2000 3369).
⁴ BBl 1995 II 1301
⁵ As of 1 Jan. 2007 the potential penalties and prescriptive periods must be interpreted and/or calculated in application of Art. 333 para. 2-6 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SR 311.0) in the wording of the Federal Act of 13 Dec. 2002 (AS 2006 3459).
⁶ Federal Council decree of 25 June 1997 (AS 1997 1703)