U.S. eases some curbs

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 2. The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, has eased some of the restrictions on computer exports with a view to relaxing some ``unnecessary regulatory burden'' on both the Government and industry.

``The decision reflects my commitment to a control system that will enhance U.S. national security by implementing controls on computer exports that are effective and enforceable,'' Mr. Clinton said in a statement. If Congress does not stand in the way, the changes would take effect in about six months.

The U.S. would decontrol export of all computers operating below 12,300 millions of theoretical operations per second, or MTOPS, to all countries excepting the ``rogue nations''. The revised controls maintained the four country groups announced in 1995 but amended the controls for countries under Tiers 2 and 3.

Under the new scheme of things, exports without an individual licence are permitted for all computers to the Tier 1 category which includes Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Brazil.

For India, Pakistan, West Asia, the former Soviet Union, China, Vietnam and Central Europe - which fall under Tier 3 - exports are currently permitted without an individual licence up to 6,500 MTOPS and individual licences are mandated for military-end users and end-users above that figure; individual licences are required for all end-users above 12,300 MTOPS.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : Gujral caution on review
Next     : Life term for Bleach, 5 others