Comments on: New nanotech export controls opposed http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2232 examining transformative technology Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:23:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: George Elvin http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2232#comment-16976 George Elvin Wed, 24 May 2006 20:05:21 +0000 http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2232#comment-16976 SEMI's one-page document is one of the better summaries of industry concerns over nanotech regulation I’ve seen. Their call to use current controls for products containing nanoparticles stands in opposition to the <a href="http://www.nanotechbuzz.com/50226711/environmental_groups_ask_fda_to_recall_sunscreens_containing_nanoparticles.php" rel="nofollow">call by Greenpeace</a> and others to impose unique regulations on products containing nanoparticles. Since you cite a US nanotech company that is already moving to Asia partly because of the proposed controls, maybe US nanotech firms really would pull up stakes and take their business elsewhere if they feared over-regulation. On the other hand, I always get concerned when industry leaders warn that regulation will hurl us into “competitive disadvantage”; that threat has been used to justify too many mistakes in the past. SEMI’s one-page document is one of the better summaries of industry concerns over nanotech regulation I’ve seen. Their call to use current controls for products containing nanoparticles stands in opposition to the call by Greenpeace and others to impose unique regulations on products containing nanoparticles.

Since you cite a US nanotech company that is already moving to Asia partly because of the proposed controls, maybe US nanotech firms really would pull up stakes and take their business elsewhere if they feared over-regulation.

On the other hand, I always get concerned when industry leaders warn that regulation will hurl us into “competitive disadvantage”; that threat has been used to justify too many mistakes in the past.

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