LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — President-elect Bill Clinton set down stringent conflict-of-interest restrictions for his transition team Friday, indicating his intention to preside over an Administration that does not trade public service for private gain.

In his only comment Friday on the new code, Clinton said: "I want to send a signal that we are going to change politics as usual."

Applied equally to paid staff and volunteers, it bars transition team members from lobbying federal agencies for which they had "substantial" involvement for six months after his inauguration.

It also prevents them from ever using any "non-public information" for private gain and requires the filing of financial disclosure information.

In announcing the guidelines at a morning briefing here, transition director Warren Christopher said: "Today's transition rules send a strong signal as to how President-elect Clinton intends to govern. . . . The era is over when too many in Washington sought to gain in some way from their access to power."

Clinton is also finishing work on regulations that will prohibit Administration officials from engaging in similar lobbying activities for five years after they leave government--four years more than provided for in existing law.

In addition, Clinton intends to draft legislation aimed at bringing about campaign reform and restricting the ability of lobbyists to represent foreign interests.

Penalties for violating the transition ethics code are still being written, but they will be outlined in an executive order Clinton plans to issue in the opening days of the Administration, Christopher said.

Legal and ethics experts said the move is an attempt at a new, lofty era in public service but cautioned that it may be a largely symbolic gesture that could be circumvented.

They predicted that the six-month ban on post-transition lobbying would not dissuade many people from accepting transition jobs. Such service is widely viewed as prestigious and career-enhancing.

Several lawyers familiar with the government ethics laws, all of whom declined to be identified, said such restrictions, while customarily observed, can be overcome. A person leaving the transition team or the government could, for example, continue to advise others on techniques for lobbying agencies that he or she could not legally contact, they said.