§ Mr. Brandon-Bravoasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether agreement has now been reached in the Western Alliance on strategic export controls on computers.
§ Mr. ChannonRepresentatives of the member states of COCOM reached agreement in principle on 12 July on future strategic export controls on computers, computer software and telecommunications switching equipment. This brings to a satisfactory conclusion the current review of the lists of goods subject to export control for strategic reasons. The Government will accordingly be able to bring British export controls on computers into line with up-to-date strategic and commercial circumstances.
These arrangements will require the formal assent in due course of the Governments concerned: this is expected in the autumn of this year. I hope shortly thereafter to make the necessary Statutory Instrument, implementing them in United Kingdom law. In the meantime, I am exploring ways of introducing the maximum degree of flexibility in the existing export control framework to reflect the future arrangements.
When the new arrangements are in force low-powered computers of no strategic significance will be freed from export control, while substantial flexibility will be introduced into the export control arrangements for computers and related equipment of higher levels of performance. Certain strategic categories of software and stored programme controlled telecommunications equipment of strategic concern (including terminal and transit switches) will be brought under export control. All COCOM countries have agreed to respect the agreement on stored programme telecommunications switching as from 12 July 1984.
My Department will make guidance available to British companies as soon as possible.