The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will step up export controls by placing all products under its jurisdiction, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, ministry officials said Sunday.

General products such as steel plates, cement, power generators and general electronics components exporters will require authorization for export from the minister, if there is a possibility they could be used in the production of missiles or weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear arms, according to the officials.

After gaining Cabinet approval, the ministry is hoping to put into effect next year the expanded so-called catch-all regime, which has already been employed by major industrial nations.

The United States had been calling on Japan to adopt the catch-all approach before the terrorist attacks, the officials said.

Currently, exporters are required to report to the minister when they want to export products listed by the ministry that include nuclear reactors, chemical products and personal-computer components.

They do not need approval for exporting civilian-use products, except for those destined for Iraq.

The ministry says there is no need to revise the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law itself. An advisory panel will deliberate a revision to an ordinance on export and trade control, they said.

The ministry is considering imposing penalties or suspending exports if violations are found, the officials said.

Of the Group of Eight nations, only Japan and Canada have yet to place the catch-all controls on exporters. Canada reportedly plans to introduce them this year.

Knife ban expanded

The government has instructed Japanese and foreign airlines to ban knives and other sharp objects from being carried by passengers aboard international flights in an effort to prevent hijackings in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The new ban announced Saturday was preceded by a similar ban on flights bound for the U.S. following the attacks in New York and Washington, officials of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said. That ban remains in effect for U.S.-bound flights from Narita, Kansai and Nagoya airports.

A similar ban has been imposed on domestic flights since last October in response to the hijacking of an All Nippon Airways flight in July 1999.

The new ban on international flights extends to knives measuring 6 cm or smaller in length, which are not subject to the law controlling possession of firearms and swords, the officials said.

Since the attacks, Japanese airports have been conducting checks at the highest alert level of "phase E," they said.

Airport bomb scare

YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) Ube airport in Yamaguchi Prefecture grounded aircraft following a telephone call warning that a bomb had been planted at the airport, Yamaguchi police said Sunday.

The call was made to the airport authority office apparently by a man around 12:20 p.m., the police said.

The police ordered the airport authority to ground flights to check the airport and aircraft, they said.