MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The defense committee of the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament started an extramural session in the office of the Russian committee on international military-technical cooperation on Thursday, the defense committee's deputy chairman Nikolai Bezborodov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The extramural session in the international military- technical cooperation committee is the continuation of a detailed study of problems in the sphere of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries by lawmakers," Bezborodov said.
The lawmakers held an extramural session at the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trading company in late 2001 and are planning to visit defense industry enterprises in the city of Tula in March.
According to Bezborodov, "it is obvious at present that perfection of a series of legal norms is needed in the military- technical cooperation sphere." In particular, the norms concern specification of criteria and approaches to licensing foreign trade activity of enterprises that manufacture military-purpose products, protection and restoration of Russia's rights to results of intellectual activity used by foreign countries, division of functions in the sphere of export control over military- and dual-purpose products between federal executive bodies, etc.
The session involves members of other committees of the State Duma such as those on security, on international affairs, on industry, construction and knowledge-intensive technologies, and on the CIS affairs and relations with compatriots.