THE WHITE HOUSE
  
                     Office of the Press Secretary
  
 For Immediate Release                            June 17, 1992
  
                 JOINT RUSSIAN-AMERICAN DECLARATION
                        ON DEFENSE CONVERSION
  
 The United States of America and the Russian Federation recognize
 that defense conversion is a key challenge of the post Cold War
 era and essential for building a democratic peace.  Both parties
 realize the hardships involved in defense conversion efforts.
 But the parties realize, too, that the successful conversion of
 resources no longer needed for defense is in the long-term
 economic and national security interests of their peoples.
 Therefore, the United States of America and the Russian
 Federation declare their intention to devote priority to
 cooperation in advancing defense conversion.
  
 Recognizing the important role of the private sector and of
 practical participation by business communities in the complex
 task of defense conversion, the United Stats of America and the
 Russian Federation are establishing a U.S.-Russian Defense
 Conversion Committee to facilitate conversion through expanded
 trade and investment.  The intergovernmental committee will be
 established within the framework of the U.S.-Russian Business
 Development Committee and will be designed to facilitate the
 exchange of information and the promotion of trade and
 investment, including through the development of contacts between
 interested groups, the expansion of information exchange on
 enterprises undergoing conversion, and, the improvement of
 conditions for commercial activities in both countries through
 the identification and removal of obstacles to expanded trade and
 investment. The Committee will inform the governments of both
 countries on a regular basis of the results of its activities, in
 order that they may take timely and effective measures to
 eliminate impediments to bilateral cooperation in the area of
 conversion.
  
 With the aim of promoting successful cooperation in conversion,
 each of the parties intends to take a number of practical steps
 in the near future.
  
 The Russian Federation intends to establish on its territory a
 favorable political, economic, legal, and regulatory climate for
 American trade and investment, including the adoption of
 macroeconomic reforms necessary to institute convertability of
 the ruble; the pursuit of complementary microeconomic reforms to
 support the privatization and demonopolization of industry; the
 enactment of laws to guarantee contract and property rights; and,
 the dissemination of internationally-accepted standards of basic
 business and financial information on enterprises undergoing
 conversion.
  
 The United States intends to facilitate U.S. business engagement
 in commercially-viable conversion projects in Russia, including
 joint ventures, through the placement of long-term defense
 conversion resident advisers to serve as catalysts for U.S.
 business engagement and to provide expertise to local leaders and
 enterprise directors; the establishment in Russia of business
 centers with translation, education, and training facilities for
 U.S. businesses operating in Russia; the creation of a business
 information service ("BISNIS") in Washington to match businesses
 in Russia with potential investors in the United States; and, the
 involvement of the Trade and Development Program, the Overseas
 Private Investment Corporation, and the Export-Import Bank to
 provide incentives to American private investment in commercially
 viable defense conversion projects.
  
 The United States of America and the Russian Federation endorse
 the COCOM Cooperation Forum on Export Control as a means to heal
 Cold War divisions and advance conversion through helping to
 remove barriers to high technology trade, assisting in the
 establishment of COCOM-comparable export control regimes in
 Russia and the other new independent states, and establishing
 procedures to ensure the civil end-use of sensitive goods and
 technologies on matters of common concern.  Both parties agree
 that this process is based on their mutual determination strictly
 to adhere to world standards of export controls in the area of
 the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related
 technologies, missiles and missile technology, destabilizing
 conventional armaments, and dual-use goods and technologies.
  
 The parties strongly encourage the expansion of bilateral defense
 and military contacts and the work of the North Atlantic
 Cooperation Council in addressing the full range of military
 issues that are critically linked to the success of conversion
 including civilian control of the military in a democracy;
 defense planning, budgeting, and procurement in a market economy;
 base closings and conversions; and demobilization and retraining
 as well as social protection.