The Swiss Ministry of Economy has announced that they rejected 48 requests for the export of weapons of war during the year of 2017. The requests were from 21 countries including Turkey, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper Le Matin Dimanche wrote: “The longest known list with 48 entries is more than twice the length of previous years.” The amount in question is 20 million Swiss Franks.

Companies are required to submit a pre-request to the Ministry of Economy before exporting weapons to countries with conflicts, and the ministry decides whether the exports are acceptable.

The companies who got rejected last year were to sell armored vehicles and ammunition to Turkey. The ministry also stopped exports of mortars shells to Kuwait, while assault weapons, grenades and small caliber bullets were disallowed for Mexico. The request by United Arab Emirates for large caliber bullets was also rejected.

The Ministry of Economy has refrained from issuing statements on the requests for weapons exports, but the Federal Court recently issued a verdict forcing the ministry to be more transparent. The Federal Court ruled that the export of weapons of war constitute high public interest and it is important for the media to surveil activity by authorities.

The Swiss administration is concerned that the publication of information on weapons exports will disturb many countries, as there are many that buy weapons covertly.