1 A two-day meeting of representatives of Cocom, the 17-nation group that oversees exports of sensitive goods to communist countries, didn't take any substantive decisions on trimming the list of items under controls.
2 Nor did it ease restrictions on exports to Poland and Hungary, according to U.S. officials who attended the talks.
3 The U.S. had been under pressure from several Cocom members, especially France, West Germany and Italy, to ease restrictions on some types of machine tools, which those countries argued were now widely available to East Bloc countries from non-Cocom members.
4 For several years some European countries have complained that outdated Cocom lists and restrictions served more to hamper their trade than to add to Western security.
5 Some countries also have been pressing for special treatment for Hungary and Poland as they move toward more democratic rule, just as special treatment had been agreed on for China.
6 But U.S. officials said representatives at the meeting decided that this was 'a matter for further discussion at future meetings.' They added that 'all of us (Cocom members) look at the changes in Hungary and Poland in a positive way, but a question of this scope deserves further discussion and study.' The officials also said the meeting agreed to continue treating China as a special case, despite the recent repression of dissent there, but to offer no further concessions.
7 The U.S. officials said that despite the rapid changes under way in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, all the Cocom members agreed on 'the continuing need for this organization,' which was founded 40 years ago at the start of the Cold War.
8 The officials said the meeting agreed to continue working toward 'streamlining' Cocom's restricted products list, and to improve procedures for punishing companies that don't comply with the export restrictions.
9 The officials said this meeting 'put in motion' procedural steps that would speed up both of these functions, but that no specific decisions were taken on either matter.

The U . S . had been under pressure from several Cocom members , especially France , West Germany and Italy , to ease restrictions on some types of machine tools , which those countries argued were now widely available to East Bloc countries from non - Cocom members .
machine tools ,
Why are machining tools under restriction?