14 September 2000
Source:
http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=00091303.clt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
_________________________________
13 September 2000
(Administration seeks to match EU policy) (250) Washington -- The Clinton administration has moved close to implementing its July decision relaxing controls on U.S. encryption software exports to the European Union (EU) and eight other countries, a U.S. Department of Commerce official says. At a September 13 meeting of the President's Export Council subcommittee on encryption, James Lewis of the department's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) said the goal is to publish the new regulation in the Federal Register by the end of the month. The administration's decision was a response to the EU's adoption in June of a similar directive relaxing encryption export controls, which is expected to take effect September 28. Under the new policy U.S. companies can export without a license any encryption software to any end user, government or non-government, in the EU as well as Australia, Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland. Also, the companies can ship these products immediately and no longer must wait 30 days for a technical review by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Lewis said the regulation would eliminate a requirement for exporters to report to BXA about shipments of personal computers and other low-end computer products containing encryption. He said he expected the change would eliminate the need for hundreds of thousands of reports. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)