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TOKYO, Sept 23 (AFP) - Japan's trade ministry will introduce tighter export controls to prevent terrorists from buying items that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction, a newspaper said Sunday.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will adopt "catch-all" rules, requiring exporters to check whether all their products, including consumer-use goods, could be diverted for military use, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

If there are fears that a product could be used to make weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear bombs and poison gases, the exporter would need to get government approval for its shipment, the economic daily said.

Companies are currently required to seek approval only for certain products such as nuclear reactors, special chemicals and sophisticated computers and electronic parts.

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

Japan had resisted introducing the catch-all rules fearing they could increase the burden on export firms, but the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States made Tokyo reverse the policy, the daily said.

The ministry plans to draw up details of the new rules by the end of the year for introduction by late 2002, it said, adding the schedule might be advanced depending on international conditions.

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

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