FDA has signed an agreement to expand its food safety collaboration with its Mexican regulatory counterparts, the agency announced Oct. 5. The “statement of intent” signed by FDA and the Mexican National Service of Agro-Alimentary Public Health Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) “embraces the use of new and emerging technologies to strengthen the Participants’ respective technical and predictive capabilities; leverages food safety programs at SENASICA and COFEPRIS and their work with local industry; and further enhances collaborations with other key partners in the United States and Mexico, among others,” FDA said. The statement also says FDA, SENASICA and COFEPRIS intend to expand the scope of their 2014 agreement on produce safety to cover other foods.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 2 announced new export controls (see 2008100013 and 2005190052) on six emerging technologies. The controls, which were agreed to by Wassenaar Arrangement members during its 2019 plenary, include:
A former U.S. official and a Senate staffer who worked closely with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security’s handling of emerging and foundational technologies, saying the lengthy process is impeding the work of CFIUS. David Hanke, the former staffer and architect of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, called CFIUS’s reliance on BIS’s export control effort a “deeply flawed system,” while Nova Daly, the Treasury Department’s former deputy assistant secretary for investment security and policy, acknowledged the process is difficult but said BIS should move faster.
CTIA backs new recommendations from House Republicans' China Task Force that the U.S. take a “whole-of-government approach to assess the security risks posed by the” Chinese government “in 5G networks and increasing cooperation between the U.S. and its allies and partners in identifying and countering them.” The task force said earlier this week it also supports forming “a new D-10 group of leading democracies to develop and deploy 5G and subsequent generations and establishing a reimbursement program for companies to remove equipment from their communications networks that poses a national security risk.” The group supported “sanctioning” China-based telecom companies “engaged in economic or industrial espionage” and securing “international leadership” on 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other emerging technologies. The report “confirms the critical importance of America’s free market approach to building 5G networks and how consumers benefit from private sector competition in the wireless marketplace,” said CTIA Senior Vice President Kelly Cole. “It also makes clear that we must identify more spectrum to make available for commercial use as we build our 5G economy.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration signed a memorandum of understanding that they say will lead to better agency coordination for U.S. dairy exports. The memorandum, released Oct. 1, will better align the FDA with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and Foreign Agricultural Service to help U.S. exporters address questions from trading partners, the two agencies said.
CTIA backs new recommendations from House Republicans' China Task Force that the U.S. take a “whole-of-government approach to assess the security risks posed by the” Chinese government “in 5G networks and increasing cooperation between the U.S. and its allies and partners in identifying and countering them.” The task force said earlier this week it also supports forming “a new D-10 group of leading democracies to develop and deploy 5G and subsequent generations and establishing a reimbursement program for companies to remove equipment from their communications networks that poses a national security risk.” The group supported “sanctioning” China-based telecom companies “engaged in economic or industrial espionage” and securing “international leadership” on 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other emerging technologies. The report “confirms the critical importance of America’s free market approach to building 5G networks and how consumers benefit from private sector competition in the wireless marketplace,” said CTIA Senior Vice President Kelly Cole. “It also makes clear that we must identify more spectrum to make available for commercial use as we build our 5G economy.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin voiced optimism Wednesday about the direction of restarted negotiations on compromise COVID-19 relief legislation, as they began in-person talks. House Democrats filed a revised version of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-8406) earlier in the week that includes more than $15 billion in broadband funding (see 2009290044). Mnuchin believed he and Pelosi can “reach a reasonable compromise” in coming days. “We’re both making a good faith effort to try to get this done,” he told a CNBC investor conference. “I think we want to figure out whether we can get it done, and if not, move on.” Pelosi told reporters she's awaiting White House response to HR-8406. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., noted the need for a compromise aid package during a prerecorded appearance at the National Cable Television Cooperative/ACA Connects Independent Show webcast Wednesday. He blamed the lack of a deal on the White House and Senate Republicans, who balked at advancing an earlier version of the Heroes Act (HR-6800) that the House passed in May (see 2005130059). It’s “much harder to predict” whether there will be any Hill progress on other telecom legislation during the post-election lame-duck session, Doyle said. It may depend whether there’s a clear-cut result in the contests for the Senate majority and the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “Both sides might be willing to clear the decks and end some of the gridlock” if there’s a clear sense of who will control the White House and Senate in 2021 once Congress returns in November, Doyle said.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Sept. 30 asking the departments of Commerce, Defense, the Treasury and the Interior “to investigate our Nation's undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed form, from foreign adversaries.” This order follows one from late 2017 that asked agencies to identify which minerals are critical. Trump acknowledged that there is not sufficient domestic supply, but said that under International Emergency Economic Powers Act authority, he wants to make sure imports are coming from allies, not adversaries.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin voiced optimism Wednesday about the direction of restarted negotiations on compromise COVID-19 relief legislation, as they began in-person talks. House Democrats filed a revised version of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-8406) earlier in the week that includes more than $15 billion in broadband funding (see 2009290044). Mnuchin believed he and Pelosi can “reach a reasonable compromise” in coming days. “We’re both making a good faith effort to try to get this done,” he told a CNBC investor conference. “I think we want to figure out whether we can get it done, and if not, move on.” Pelosi told reporters she's awaiting White House response to HR-8406. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., noted the need for a compromise aid package during a prerecorded appearance at the National Cable Television Cooperative/ACA Connects Independent Show webcast Wednesday. He blamed the lack of a deal on the White House and Senate Republicans, who balked at advancing an earlier version of the Heroes Act (HR-6800) that the House passed in May (see 2005130059). It’s “much harder to predict” whether there will be any Hill progress on other telecom legislation during the post-election lame-duck session, Doyle said. It may depend whether there’s a clear-cut result in the contests for the Senate majority and the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “Both sides might be willing to clear the decks and end some of the gridlock” if there’s a clear sense of who will control the White House and Senate in 2021 once Congress returns in November, Doyle said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin voiced optimism Wednesday about the direction of restarted negotiations on compromise COVID-19 relief legislation, as they began in-person talks. House Democrats filed a revised version of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act (HR-8406) earlier in the week that includes more than $15 billion in broadband funding (see 2009290044). Mnuchin believed he and Pelosi can “reach a reasonable compromise” in coming days. “We’re both making a good faith effort to try to get this done,” he told a CNBC investor conference. “I think we want to figure out whether we can get it done, and if not, move on.” Pelosi told reporters she's awaiting White House response to HR-8406. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., noted the need for a compromise aid package during a prerecorded appearance at the National Cable Television Cooperative/ACA Connects Independent Show webcast Wednesday. He blamed the lack of a deal on the White House and Senate Republicans, who balked at advancing an earlier version of the Heroes Act (HR-6800) that the House passed in May (see 2005130059). It’s “much harder to predict” whether there will be any Hill progress on other telecom legislation during the post-election lame-duck session, Doyle said. It may depend whether there’s a clear-cut result in the contests for the Senate majority and the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “Both sides might be willing to clear the decks and end some of the gridlock” if there’s a clear sense of who will control the White House and Senate in 2021 once Congress returns in November, Doyle said.