ABSTRACT
The industrial revolution broke the old method of transferring technology from master to apprentice as part of a more or less secret mystery. The great mass of industrial innovation takes place within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and there is a considerable net outward flow of technology to both the third world and the second world. CoCom provides a framework for joint international action to restrict exports to the Soviet bloc. If a firm exports a product embargoed by CoCom the only remedy lies in the relevant national law. Since the end of the Second World War the US had maintained controls on exports for the purpose of pursuing national security, foreign policy or domestic economic objectives, most frequently the former. The European Parliament, adopting the Fergusson Report in 1983, proposed a direct Community involvement which would probably result, if adopted, in replacement of the current national powers exercised by the member States.
