WASHINGTON -- New trade rules announced Wednesday, May 24 by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright came as good news to the U.S. aerospace industry, which expects a boost in overseas sales as a result.

"These measures will make American technology and expertise more readily available to our allies," said Albright at the start of a two-day NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Florence, Italy.

The 17-point trade initiative would remove some of the obstacles to joint ventures by U.S. and European companies that are seeking aerospace and defense contracts from Washington or other NATO governments.

One change involves the establishment of so-called "license-free zones" in Great Britain and Australia that would serve as a prototype for other countries.

Under that arrangement, the U.S. government would negotiate agreements with the countries that pass certain security measures. Then selected aerospace companies in those countries would be allowed to bypass export-licensing rules for unclassified weapons munitions.

Canada had such arrangement but lost the privilege last year when U.S. government regulators learned that American technology had been transferred from Canada to Iran and China.

Another measure would require only a single license to cover an entire weapons program that involves several subcontractors.

The licenses also would be valid for eight years, instead of four.

Controls on allies' transfer of U.S. weapons and technology to other countries would be tightened under the new trade measures. At the same time, a list of third countries allowed to import U.S. technology would be drawn up.

Albright's announcement ends a yearlong battle between those who favor tight export rules in the name of national security and those in an industry fighting to keep ahead of foreign competitors who have no such restrictions from their governments.

U.S. aerospace industry officials complain that they have lost business to their European competitors since Congress transferred authority over export licensing from the Commerce Department to the State Department a year ago.

Congress acted out of concern that U.S. companies may have transferred sensitive satellite and missile technology to China.

With satellite sales plummeting more than 40 percent last year, the Defense Department streamlined its own export license process and urged the State Department to do the same.

The aerospace industry applauded Albright's announcement, but called it just the first step in overcoming the industry's trade obstacles.

"Even if these initiatives are implemented as well as everyone wants, we have done no more than streamline a system devised for an age that no longer exists," said John Douglass, president of Washington, D.C.-based Aerospace Industries Association.

"The next president and the next Congress need to look at the legal and philosophical underpinnings of our export control system which dates back to the Cold War environment of the 70s," he said.

NATO countries along with Australia and Japan account for more than $17 billion -- or 68 percent -- of U.S. export licenses.

The State Department currently reviews about 45,000 license applications a year. The Pentagon reviews about 12,000 of those because of security concerns.