Biotech Panel to Address Export Controls in Upcoming Report, Official Says
The congressionally mandated National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is expected to include recommendations on export control policy in its upcoming report to Congress, a Commerce Department official said March 18.
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The commission plans to submit its “comprehensive” report to lawmakers “sometime in April,” the official said at the BIS annual update conference. “They did not give us an advance copy, so I can’t share that.”
The commission, which released an interim report in January 2024, was formed to examine “the critical intersection of emerging biotechnology and national security.” While the panel is charged with focusing on the Defense Department, “we have certainly interacted with them quite a bit,” the Commerce official said.
In January, BIS released an interim final rule that placed new export controls on certain laboratory equipment that can be used for biotechnology (see 2501150020). Public comments were due March 17.
Several lawmakers have called for more export controls on biotechnology. In January, for example, the leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department to require U.S. biopharmaceutical entities to obtain an export license before working with a Chinese military hospital for clinical trials (see 2501100037).