Heather Johnston: Upcoming MENA FDA Bureau Bill Represents a Long-Awaited Win

February 5, 2024 TruthUSA

Friend-shoring to the Abraham Accords Nations is a Viable Path to Peace

Amid a cataclysmic war in the Mideast between the region’s only democracy, Israel, and Iran’s terrorist proxies, there is still every reason to remain hopeful for a brighter future.

This war may have threatened the progress made by the Abraham Accords over the past four years, but as U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said, “Virtually every leader I talked to supports moving forward with integration, normalization.”

Arab leaders’ desire to normalize relations with Israel underscores the shared aspiration for a future free from violence.

Considering that Iran’s terrorist proxies continue to destabilize the region, Arab nations will find more stability and prosperity as they work together with Israel and the U.S., with whom they share a common foe.

One way to further this collaboration and create a “warm peace” between the nations — true collaboration rather than just agreeing not to pursue armed conflict — is to capitalize on the rising economic and medical innovation that is peaking in the region. The vision to friend-shore a significant portion of America’s medical supply chains has never been more relevant or achievable.

Imagine the U.S. relieving geopolitical tensions in the Mideast and North Africa (MENA) region by bringing the Abraham Accords signatory nations closer together through friend-shoring solutions.

The MENA biotech corridor — Israel, UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain — has the potential to improve Americans’ access to essential medical and pharmaceutical supplies, while working in tandem with Israel and the Arab nations who are seeking peace, normalized relations, and economic opportunities.

In 2019, the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA) began researching the benefits of friend-shoring and realized that the first crucial step to diversifying American medical supply chains would require a U.S. FDA regional office that would operationalize a friend-shoring solution for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

There are three such offices in China, none in the Mideast or North Africa.

Currently, more than 80% of the APIs used in drugs sold in the U.S. come from overseas, primarily China and India. India is the largest producer of generic medications in the world; however, the U.S. is dependent on China for most of its APIs.

When you consider how China currently clings to its manufacturing monopoly of critical American healthcare needs such as medical devices, pacemakers, saline solution, tubing, and contrast agents — the disruption risk has never been more terrifyingly clear.

The data speaks for itself regarding regularly consumed medicines in the U.S. In 2019 alone, China was responsible for 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91% of hydrocortisone, 70% of acetaminophen, 40-45% of penicillin, and 40% of heparin.

Establishing an FDA Bureau for the Abraham Accords countries would provide critical technical assistance to healthcare industries in the region, open new cooperative arrangements, and ease the development of APIs with our friendly and strategic allies in the MENA region.

Today we celebrate a momentous milestone in bringing this idea to reality, as Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., and Juan Vargas, D-Calf., introduced the United States-Abraham Accords Cooperation and Security Act of 2024 (H.R. 7155), calling for the establishment of a U.S. FDA Bureau in the Abraham Accords region.

The bill has strong bipartisan support, with Reps. Rick Allen, R-Ga., Andy Harris, R-Md., Mike Levin, D-Calif., Scott Peters, D-Calif., and Randy Weber, R-Texas, signed on as original co-sponsors.

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