THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Camp David, Maryland)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      July 17, 2000


                    STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

                         Administration Updates

                        Encryption Export Policy


Today, the Administration is updating its policy for encryption exports
to the European Union and other key trading partners, thus assuring
continued competitiveness of U.S. industry in international markets.

Under the new policy, U.S. companies can export under license exception
(i.e., without a license) any encryption product to any end user in the
15 nations of the European Union as well as Australia, Norway, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland.  Previous
distinctions between government and non-government end users are removed
for these countries.  Further, U.S. exporters will be permitted to ship
their products to these nations immediately after they have submitted a
commodity classification request for their product to the Department of
Commerce.  Exporters no longer have to wait for a completed technical
review or incur a 30-day delay to ship their encryption products to
customers in these nations.

These updates track with recent regulations adopted by the European
Union that ease encryption exports to the same countries.  Consistent
with the Administration's January 2000 commitment, U.S. companies can
continue to compete effectively in these markets.

The steps announced today continue our policy to serve the full range of
national interests:  promote electronic commerce, support law
enforcement and national security, protect privacy, and maintain U.S.
industry leadership in security technologies.

                                 # # #