Can a national patent office publish information about an international application before international publication?

A national patent office may inform third parties that it has been designated in an international application and publish that fact. However, the publication can only contain limited bibliographic data, as specified in PCT Article 30(2)(b):

“Such information or publication may, however, contain only the following data: identification of the receiving Office, name of the applicant, international filing date, international application number, and title of the invention.”

The national office still cannot allow third parties to access the full application until the conditions outlined in PCT Article 30(2)(a) are met.