Category: Health and Life Sciences

Further to our earlier posts publishing the Administrative Penalties imposed by Switzerland’s SECO, we are providing details of a further 13 penalties imposed.

The blog is grateful to SECO for providing anonymised copies of the penalty notices.

16. Final administrative decision, dated 18 March 2024 (I.36)

Notice.

SECO was notified by Customs at Geneva Airport following the seizure of weapon parts imported from Russia.

SECO pend an investigation and determined that the parts were not for weapons intended for hunting or sport.

The importer was individual who had ordered the goods from a Russian manufacturer. This is the first instance of a fine imposed on individual by SECO for Russian sanctions breaches.

SECO assessed the breach as negligent rather than intentional, and imposed a fine of CHF 300, plus costs of CHF 360. The imported items were confiscated.

17. Administrative penalty dated 18 March 2024 (I.72)

Notice.

This notice relates to the attempted export of 4 leather bags each valued at €370, with a total value of €1,480.

The goods were returned to seller.

The notice states that this was a repeat infraction by the company in question, with it having been the subject of proceedings that were dismissed on 19 December 2022.

The export was said to be result of human error during a busy time and SECO took the view that the breach was negligent and not intentional.

The company was fined CHF 1000 with costs of CHF 560.

18. Administrative penalty dated 23 May 2024 (I.75)

Notice.

SECO’s proceedings were commenced on 8 January 2024 and relates to an attempted export by a Russian national to Russia of luxury jewelry valued at CHF 14,100 and seized at Zurich airport.

The jewelry had been sold to that person with a VAT exemption on the basis that the person was a tourist. The invoice issued by the selling company referred to the individual as resident in the Russian Federation.

SECO accepted that the breach by the seller was negligent and not intentional, and imposed a fine of CHF 4,500, and costs of CHF 1260.

The Notice contains no indication of confiscation of the proceeds from the sale, but will be of interest for sellers of luxury goods to Russian nationals, especially where there is a reason to think that the goods would be taken to Russia.

19. Administrative penalty dated 23 May 2024 (I.91)

Notice.

The investigation was started on 27 February 2024, following the shipment of 12 electric heating resistors valued at CHF 6,400 bound for Russia and stopped at Zurich airport.

SECO determined that the breach was not intentional, but a result of a negligent failure to understand which products codes were prohibited. The company was noted as having cooperated.

A fine of CHF 1,000 was imposed plus CHF 1,260 in costs.

20. Administrative penalty dated 5 June 2024 (I.80)

Notice.

This is a short notice with substantial redactions. It relates to the attempted export of flowmeters and electric motors to Russia of uncertain value.

The company was fined CHF 700 plus costs of CHF 40.

21. Administrative penalty dated 17 June 2024 (I.84)

Notice.

This Notice relates to the attempted export of prohibited goods to Russia, being spare parts for machine tools.

The goods were not confiscated but were released back to the exporter.

The company was fined CHF 500, plus costs of CHF 650.

22. Administrative penalty dated 9 September 2024 (I.90)

Notice.

This Notice relates to prohibited imports of plastic packaging from Russia valued at c. €3,536. The goods had been donated to assist with medical research and had not been purchased.

SECO took the view the breach was negligent and not intentional and imposed a fine of CHF 500 plus costs of CHF 580.

23. Administrative penalty dated 9 October 2024 (I.94)

Notice.

This relates to an attempted export referred by Swiss Customs to SECO. Seven different categories of goods were involved, six of which were prohibited from export. The goods were valued at more than CHF 15,000.

The lawful export was allowed to proceed and the others goods were all returned to the exporter rather than being confiscated.

The company had conducted google searches to determine whether the goods were subject to prohibitions, but these provided faulty answers. SECO determined the breach was negligent and not intentional and so fined the company CHF 5,000, plus costs of CHF 1,460.

24. Administrative penalty dated 18 December 2024 (I.101)

Notice.

This Notice relates to an attempted export of satellite parts to Ukraine without a licence. SECO approved a retrospective licence application to allow the export to proceed but imposed a fine of CHF 1000 plus CHF 20 in costs.

Previously SECO had taken the view that it was not permissible to apply for retrospective licences.

25. Administrative penalty dated 5 November 2024 (I.93)

Notice.

The Notice relates to the importation of prohibited goods valued at €22,650 reported to SECO by Swiss Customs. SECO commenced its investigation in July 2024. The goods in question were an electrical cabinet with customs code 8537.1000.

The importer had obtained erroneous advice that the goods had a non-prohibited customs code.

SECO prosecuted for negligent breach and imposed a fined CHF 5,000 plus CHF 850 in costs.

26. Administrative penalty dated 9 May 2025 (I.109)

Notice.

This Notice relates to an import shipment from Russia seized at Basel Airport and referred to SECO consisting of clothing valued at CHF 28,689. These were imports prohibited under Switzerland’s Russian sanctions.

SECO accepted evidence from senior company representatives that they were unaware of the existence of the prohibitions, and so SECO proceeded on the basis of a negligence, rather than an intentional, breach.

A fine of CHF 2000 plus CHF 300 in costs was imposed.

27. Administrative penalty dated 11 June 2025 (I.110)

Notice.

This Notice relates to the attempted export to Russia of goods of uncertain value with classification codes 8544.4200 (insulated cables), 3917.4000 (plastic fittings) and 8481.8000 (valves and other fittings). The exporter is said to have applied for, and been granted, a licence after the event.

The company was fined CHF 800 plus CHF 20 in costs.

28. Administrative penalty dated 9 July 2025 (I. 114)

Notice.

This Notice relates to the seizure of goods valued at CHF 11,739 bound for export to Russia, with no licence having been sought, and with product code 9027.5000 (instruments for physical or chemical analysis).

The company was fined CHF 1000 with CHF 20 in costs. The fine is described as having been for the failure to obtain a licence, and not for the attempted unlicensed export itself.

The Notice does not indicate whether the goods were returned to the exporter or confiscated.

Back in July we published a post highlighting that Switzerland’s SECO had imposed 5 new fines for sanctions breaches.

Through a Freedom of Information request we have obtained anonymized and redacted copies of these five Final Administrative Criminal Decisions.

These five decisions, and machine-generated translations are provided below, as well as summaries of the enforcement actions. The numbering sequence from when this blog published the previous 10 decisions is continued.

As previously, the value of the fines are all fairly low and these five cases combine for a total of CHF 13,490.

11. Final administrative criminal decision, dated 19 February 2024

Original: 2024-02-19-I.77-Strafbescheid.pdf

Translation: 2024-02-19-I.77-Strafbescheid_Translation.pdf

This case concerned the attempted export of CHF 10,569.90 of electrical switches to Russia. The export was stopped at Zurich Airport Customs in December 2023.

The goods in question had been included on the Swiss sanctions list as of 25 January 2023.

The company claimed it was unaware the goods were sanctioned, and SECO accepted this finding that the export was negligent rather than intentional.

In light of the company’s cooperation, and the company being able to show a track record of refusing sales to Russia which they knew were sanctioned, SECO set the fine at CHF 750, plus CHF 250 in costs.

The goods in question were returned to the seller.

12. Final administrative criminal decision, dated 26 February 2024

Original: 2024-02-26-I.78-Strafbescheid.pdf

Translation: 2024-02-26-I.78-Strafbescheid_Translation.pdf

This case concerned the attempted export of €57,263 worth of pressure transmitters, pressure transducers and pressure gauges to Russia. The export was stopped at Zurich Airport Customs in December 2022.

The goods in question had been added to the Swiss sanctions list during November 2022.

SECO had earlier written to the company, in 2021, to say that the export of the goods could be done without a licence, subject to the changing requirements of Swiss sanctions.

SECO accepted the argument that the export was not intentional, but found it was negligent and that the company should have been more aware of the sanctions in place.

In light of the company’s cooperation, SECO set the fine at CHF 2,900, plus CHF 970 in costs.

The goods in question were returned to the seller.

13. Final administrative criminal decision, dated 26 February 2024

Original: 2024-02-26-I.67-Strafbescheid.pdf

Translation: 2024-02-26-I.67-Strafbescheid_translation.pdf

This case concerns two attempted exports of spare parts for medical and dental devices to Russia. Within wider sales of nearly €27,000 worth of parts, sanctioned goods with a value of approximately €3,600 were included.

On both occasions the goods were stopped by customs.

The company sought to explain the two prohibited exports by saying that the wrong HS code had been entered into its internal system (9026.2000 instead of 8481.1010) and so it had not been caught by its systems. In the other instance the company said it searched for the HS code using the format in the customs tariff (which used a full-stop in the number), while in the relevant Appendix in the Ordinance the HS code used a space instead of a full stop. The company’s searches against its products therefore resulted in false negatives and the shipments were incorrectly authorised.

The company relied heavily on its detailed procedures and training as mitigation, and had appointed an outside consultant to assist further with compliance. In addition, the company sought a retrospective approval for the exports on humanitarian/medical grounds.

SECO denied that request saying “a retroactive authorization cannot be issued to regularize exports”.

While not alleging an intention to breach the sanctions, SECO decided that the company had been negligent and commented that a “more precise check” of the prohibited codes would have prevented the export. It is as good an example of the importance of fuzzy searching as you’ll find.

The company was fined CHF1,000 and costs of CHF590. The seized goods were returned to the company.

14. Final administrative criminal decision, dated 11 March 2024

Original: 2024-03-11-I.79-Strafbescheid.pdf

Translation: 2024-03-11-I.79-Strafbescheid_Translation.pdf

This case concerned two blocked exports of goods valued at €2000 which were stopped by the Zurich Customs office. The goods included foam generators and level sensors.

In the first example the attempted export took place on the same day as the respective goods were announced as being added to the lists of prohibited items. The version of Annex 23 to the Ordinance had been updated on SECO’s website, but not on other versions. Nonetheless, SECO determined that the export fell under the heading of “negligent”.

In the second example, the company argued that the prohibition against certain goods which are “suitable for use in the aerospace industry” could be negatived by evidence that this was not going to be the actual use. SECO disagreed.

The company was fined CHF2,300 and ordered to pay costs of CHF970. The seized goods were returned to the company.

15. Final administrative criminal decision, dated 13 March 2024

Original: 2024-03-13-I.76-Strafbescheid-002.pdf

Translation: 2024-03-13-I.76-Strafbescheid_translation.pdf

This case concerned a shipment of 8,640kg of products with customs code 3824.9919 valued at €19,612.80.

The goods were seized by the St. Gallen customs office in October 2022.

The company claimed that it had no knowledge that the goods in question were subject to Switzerland’s Russian sanctions.

SECO’s response was to state:

“However, it is not the actual knowledge of the persons concerned of the criminal nature of the sale and export transaction that establishes criminal liability, but it is sufficient if the knowledge of the criminal liability should have been present in the company with due diligence. This must be affirmed in the present case.”

SECO accordingly concluded that the company was guilty of a negligent breach of sanctions.

A fine of CHF2,800 was imposed and costs of CHF960. The seized goods were returned to the company.