An interagency working group is seeking a "rational approach" to implement what officials concede is a "complicated," wide-reaching federal ban on procuring or otherwise using technology made by Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese firms, according to officials speaking at a recent MITRE Corp. event. Officials addressed the future ban during the Dec. 18-19 "Software and Supply Chain Assurance" winter forum hosted by MITRE in McLean, VA, and co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the General Services Administration. The event was conducted under the Chatham House rule. The Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act directs a federal ban on telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE, as well as video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by Hytera Communications, Huangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology. The ban also covers any "subsidiary or affiliate" of the named entities. The law specifically prohibits agencies from procuring or obtaining any "equipment, system or service" that uses those companies' equipment "as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system." It also forbids them from entering into a contract "with an entity that uses any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system."
展开▼
