The OSCE Secretariat bears no responsibility for the content of this document FSC.EMI/202/25 and circulates it without altering its content. The distribution by OSCE 11 June 2025 Conference Services of this document is without prejudice to OSCE decisions, as set out in documents agreed by OSCE participating States. ENGLISH only Questionnaire on Participating States’ Policy and/or National Practices and Procedures for the Export of Conventional Arms and Related Technology: Sweden, 2024
OSCE participating States are requested to provide details of:
1. Their basic principles, policies and/or national practices on the export of conventional arms and related technology.
In the area of conventional arms, controls are applied to finished products, components and technology, to the activity of manufacturing, and to foreign sales, transfers (including intangible transfers), tenders, loans, gifts or intermediation (brokering), the transfer of manufacturing rights, joint development activities with foreign partners, and the provision of technical assistance, technical support (for exported products), or military training abroad.
The Swedish Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP), is the designated national authority for the licensing of exports of military equipment and dual-use items covered by the basic legislation in this area. The ISP was established in 1996 by a Parliamentary decision that placed responsibility for licensing decisions and compliance control of the defence industry with the new independent authority, and Sweden’s participation in multilateral cooperation in the transfer control area with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA). The ISP works on the basis of the Swedish Export Control Guidelines set by the Government and endorsed by Parliament, and other assessment criteria resulting from Sweden’s participation in international agreements (see question 3 below). The ISP is assisted in the interpretation of applicable guidelines by a 12-member Export Control Council comprising representatives of all parties in Parliament and appointed by the Government, which retains overall political responsibility. The ISP is authorised to refer cases of particular importance to the Government for decision. For further information, please see https://isp.se/eng.
2. Their national legislation governing the export of conventional arms and related technology. If applicable, report changes and/or updates to the data provided in 1995, including any relevant subsidiary legislation.
The Swedish legislation governing the export of conventional arms can be found in the Military Equipment Act (SFS 1992:1300) and the Military Equipment Ordinance (SFS 1992:1303). There have been several amendments to the Military Equipment Act, the latest in 2024 (SFS 2024:819), and to the Ordinance, most recently in 2025 (SFS 2025:313). The EC directive 2009/43/EC on intra- community transfers was adopted by amendments to the Act (SFS 2011:849) and to the Ordinance (SFS 2011:850). 2
In 2024, the 2023 Military Equipment Inquiry proposed several amendments to the Act and the Ordinance as well as to other relevant regulations (Swedish Government Official Reports 2024:77). The Government Offices are currently preparing the matter.
3. Any international agreements or guidelines, other than OSCE commitments, covering the export of conventional arms to which they are a party.
Apart from the national guidelines for the assessment of conventional arms exports, Sweden also applies the European Union’s Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, the European Common List of Military Equipment, and all other EU directives and regulations in this area. Sweden has ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and applies the Treaty’s Article 6 and 7 to the assessment of arms transfers. Sweden is a Participating State and founding member of the Wassenaar Arrangement, and reports every six months to the Arrangements secretariat on transfers of arms to non-participating states. Sweden is also a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which is relevant in this context as chemical weapons and their precursors are included in the list of equipment controlled under The Military Equipment Act, as well as the conventions prohibiting anti-personell landmines and cluster munitions.
In 2000 Sweden and Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom signed a Framework Agreement/Letter of Intent (FA/LoI). This agreement has an annex on export controls. In 2020, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway also signed an export controls annex to their 2015 agreement concerning cooperaton in the defence materiel area.
4. The procedures for processing an application to export conventional arms and related technology: • Who is the issuing authority? • What other authorities are involved and what is their function? • Who deals with compliance?
The process of assessing an export case starts long before a formal export license application is received. Please see further the answer to Question 16, where the authorities involved are also enumerated.
The ISP has the responsibility of assessing and licensing controlled activities in the area of conventional arms (see also the answer to Question 1). The formal decision to approve or deny a license application is made by the Director-General of the ISP. Should the Director-General consider a case to be of particular importance or associated with effects not covered by the applicable guidelines, a license application may be forwarded to the Swedish Government for decision.
Compliance monitoring is one of the ISP’s tasks. Compliance visits, usually performed together with representatives from the Customs Authority, are made 3
annually to companies that have permits to manufacture military equipment and to brokers of military equipment. The frequency of visits may vary depending on the size of the company and the companys level of activity. The ISP encourages defence industry companies to maintain internal compliance programs (ICPs).
Enforcement is a shared resonsibility of the licensing authority, the Customs Authority, and other relevant law enforcement authorities, applying penalties prescribed either directly in export control legislation or in general criminal law.
5. Lists of conventional weaponry under national export controls and the basis for their control. If applicable, report changes and/or updates to the data provided in 1995.
Since 2012 the Swedish national control list has been modified to conform with the annex to directive 2009/43/EC (the European Common List of Military Equipment). The Swedish list contains three additional categories (N1-N3).
Nationally, Sweden also differentiates between Military Equipment for Combat Purposes (MEC) and Other Military Equipment (OME). The two types of material are subject to slightly different guidelines. To assist the industry, the Swedish version of the EU common military list provides an indication as to whether a given item belongs to the MEC or OME category.
6. Principles and national regulations on the destination or end-user of the equipment. Is there a complete erga omnes system or a published list of • Destinations of concern? • Embargoed countries? • Differentiation between destinations (e.g. is there any preferential treatment of (groups) of countries)?
Licences may not be granted for exports of military equipment to countries subject to an international arms embargo. Other than that, there are no lists of prohibited countries. Export assessments are made on a case-by-case basis, with an effort to apply the guidelines in a manner that is consistent over time.
The Government Bill underlying the present Act, submitted to Parliament in 1992, indicates that there are in principle no obstacles of a foreign policy nature regarding cooperation with, or exports to, the Nordic countries and the traditionally neutral states in Europe. Cooperation with any of these countries is considered to correspond with Swedish national security policy interests. Ever since Sweden’s entry into the European Union the same principle is applied to the member states of the EU.
Sweden applies the sanctions in the area of conventional arms exports that have been adopted by the UN, the EU and the OSCE. An up-to-date list of embargoed destinations is maintained on the ISP website. 4
7. Requirements for the provision of an end-user certificate in an export license application, or of non-re-exportation clauses, or of any other type of certification before and after delivery for conventional arms export contracts. If applicable, please specify any verification of the end-user certificate and/or non-re-exportation clauses before and after delivery.
An end-use or end-user certificate is in principle required for all exports in accordance with the Swedish guidelines. Different formats are used for different purposes. A Declaration by End User (DEU) or End Use Certificate (EUC) is required for the export of complete products. It has to be signed by the government of the recipient country, stating that the equipment purchased will only be used by its national defense forces and will not be re-exported without Swedish Government consent (exports are only allowed to governments, central government agencies, or government-authorized recipients, such as defence industry companies). All formal DEUs or EUCs are verified by the Swedish Embassy accredited to the country of final destination. A different format is used for the export of components to be integrated into products assembled in a country of destination. Special formats are used for MANPADS exports, civilian firearms exported for hunting, sporting or collecting purposes, and for the testing of Swedish-made products abroad.
8. National definition of transit and transshipment (including free zones) of conventional arms, together with associated national legislation and compliance procedures.
Sweden does not have an import licensing system. Conventional arms that are transited or transshipped through Sweden are therefore not licensed upon entry into Swedish territory. Any transit or transshipment (including through free zones) is instead treated as a regular export when departing from Sweden, requiring a license granted by the licensing authority (ISP) in order to leave Swedish territory. Applicable guidelines are applied to such licensing decisions. Transit or transshipment through Sweden to another EU Member State is licensed in accordance with the simplified procedures set out in the EU Intra-Community Transfer (ICT) Directive 2009/43/EG.
9. The procedures governing companies wishing to export arms. Are companies obliged to seek official governmental authority to enter into contract negotiations or to sign contracts with foreign customers?
Companies wishing to export arms are obliged to have a basic permit to manufacture or act as a broker for military equipment. Licensed companies have to submit quarterly marketing reports to the ISP within a month after the close of each quarter.
Companies are also obliged to notify the ISP prior to submitting a legally binding tender (four weeks in advance), or in a situation in which tendering procedures do 5
not apply, prior to entering into an agreement concerning the supply of military equipment or the granting of transfer of manufacturing rights or the manufacture or development of military equipment or of a method for the production of military equipment. The licensing authority has the right to halt such activities in an individual case.
For the process of assessing potential exports on the basis of each company’s marketing reports, please see the answer to Question 4.
10. Policy on the revocation of export licenses once they have been approved: please list any published regulations.
An export permit may be revoked, but this usually only occurs under extraordinary circumstances, e.g. the introduction of mandatory UN, EC and OSCE sanctions.
The Swedish guidelines allow for a different assessment of so-called follow-on deliveries, in order to strengthen security of support for previously exported systems. Unlike other types of decisions taken by the ISP, which take the form of specific exceptions to an outright prohibition of all controlled activities, the revocation of a license may be appealed in a court of law.
11. The penal and administrative implications for any exporter failing to comply with national controls. If applicable, report changes and/or updates to the data provided in 1995.
A person or entity exporting military equipment without a permit from the licensing authority, or inducing the licensing authority to grant a permit by supplying misleading information, is liable to a fine, or, in the case of a serious offence, to imprisonment for up to six years. Certain additional administrative fees, to be determined by the licensing authority, were introduced in 2018.
12. Any circumstances in which the export of arms does not require an export license.
There are no circumstances in which the export of arms does not require an export license. There are, however, a small number of cases, related to, i.a., certain transit and international police cooperation, for which the Government has decided that an export licence is not required. Simplified procedures in the form of general or global licenses are applied to intra-EU transfers of certain types of equipment or components.
13. Licenses for temporary export (e.g. demonstrations or testing), the period allowed and any special conditions attached to the license, including verification of return procedures. 6
Temporary export permits are required for trials, demonstrations, exhibitions etc. A standard condition is that the company granted a temporary license must report to the licensing authority when the equipment has been returned to Sweden (with an exception for material destroyed during trials). There is no time limit for such a return, but companies will normally, as part of their marketing information to the licensing authority, indicate the use of such equipment abroad, including its re- transfer between different markets.
14. License documents and any standard conditions attached to it (copies to be provided).
On 1 April 2011, a special license document for military equipment entered into force, similar to the license document used for dual-use items (EU standard).
15. Different types (e.g. individual, general, restricted, full, permanent, etc.) of licenses and what they are used for.
Two types of license are issued (individual and global) which may include different conditions in terms of value-limitation, time-limitation, etc. In 2012, general licenses were also introduced as a result of the adoption of directive 2009/43/EC (i.e. the ICT Directive governing intra-community transfers).
16. Advice given to exporters as to licensability, such as the likelihood of approval for a possible transaction.
A formal decision to permit an export transaction is only taken at the time of actual export.
Although the marketing of military equipment abroad is not subject to approval, the process of assessing a potential export starts with the industry sharing marketing plans with the national licensing authority (ISP) and receiving verbal preliminary advice based on a case-law approach to the application of relevant Guidelines. If a particular export case is not covered by an existing interpretation of the Guidelines, the Director-General of the licensing authority will normally consult with an advisory body – the Export Control Council, which comprises representatives of all parties in Parliament – before providing non-binding but written preliminary advice as to whether or not an export license can be expected for an intended export (based on conditions at the time of assessment).
To comply with the national guidelines, which stresses the importance of both the defence policy and the foreign policy aspects of the assessment procedure, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence provide input to the export cases reviewed by the Export Control Council.
If marketing efforts result in a requirement to provide a legally binding tender, the ISP must be notified and, based on an updated assessment of the original export 7
case, has the right to stop such a tender from being provided to the prospective customer.
The formal application for an export license, is necessary only when a binding tender has been accepted and a contract is signed, and) shall be submitted to the licensing authority ISP (further detail in the answer to question 4).
The licensing authority will advise the industry as early as possible if circumstances surrounding a particular export case have changed to such an extent that the original assessment underlying a positive preliminary advice no longer holds. As the preliminary advice provided is non-binding, the exporter has to assume the risk of such developments.
One effect of this system of licensing – i.e. the focus on early assessment – is that denials of formal export license applications are relatively rare. Negative preliminary advice provided at an early stage of marketing is not considered to constitute a denial, as there is no real certainty that marketing efforts would meet with success. Not allowing industry to submit a formal binding tender is however considered to be a denial, since it takes place at a later stage of the export process, and is used as the basis for a denial notification in appropriate fora.
17. The average number of export licenses issued annually and the staff engaged in the export licensing procedure.
In 2024, 1 528 applications for export licenses regarding military equipment were received. They were processed by the licensing authority’s section for military equipment matters.
18. Any other relevant information pertaining to the export of conventional arms and related technology, e.g. additional laws, reports to Parliament, special procedures for certain goods.
An English language translation of the Swedish Government’s annual report to Parliament on exports of military equipment (and dual use items) for the preceeding calendar year is published annually on the licensing authority’s website, www.isp.se and on https://www.regeringen.se/.
19. Are all guidelines governing conventional arms transfers nationally published?
Yes. The Swedish national guidelines are included in the Government’s above- mentioned annual report, and available on the website of the licensing authority. The same goes for the relevant EU regulations, the Arms Trade Treaty and other relevant documents.