Many governments are concerned about the proliferation of encryption products.
First, cryptography, because of its importance in military communications, is looked by some as a critical defense technology where access should be kept under strict control. Second, there is concern about the potential use of strong encryption by criminals and terrorists to prevent law enforcement access to their communications. Permissions also depend on the type of end-user. Swiss export regulations are relatively liberal. Note that, in addition to export controls of the originating country, special import permissions may be required by the destination country.