The government of Burma says it will no longer censor local media outlets by requiring stories to be submitted for review before publication.

The announced easing of censorship follows decades of repressing news coverage and other forms of free expression.

Burma's Information Ministry, which has long controlled what can be printed, said Monday that local publications will no longer be required to send their stories to the censorship board for approval.

However, Tint Swe, head of the government's Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, said reporters will now have to submit their articles to his agency after they have been printed so they can be examined for any violations of publishing laws.

Tint Swe did not spell out what penalties such violations would bring, and it was not immediately clear whether the new laws would result in self-censorship.