Rutgers officials and New Jersey leaders attended Thursday’s ceremonial groundbreaking for the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, which will function as a hospital and research facility. Photo by Daniel DellaPiazza / Rutgers University

By Joanne Chung, The Daily Targum

Construction on the new Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey began Thursday morning with a ceremonial groundbreaking for New Jersey’s first freestanding cancer hospital, according to an article from Rutgers Today.

The hospital will be called the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, after New Brunswick development philanthropists Jack Morris and his wife Sheryl Morris, according to the article. It will offer inpatient and outpatient services and research laboratories, which will provide educational opportunities for students and a way for physician-scientists to apply the latest findings and treatments to patients.

The 510,000-square-foot, 12-story facility will also grant easier access to diagnostic tests, treatments and follow-up exams, according to the article. It will be able to offer wellness and education resources, including for cancer survivors.

“There is nothing that feels better or more gratifying than helping others in need,” Jack Morris said. “Cancer touches the lives of everyone — and we believe that people should not have to travel to New York or Pennsylvania to get great cancer care. It has been our vision, our hope and our dream to have the top cancer center in the nation right here in New Brunswick.”

The center will be on Somerset Street next to the already existing Rutgers Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, according to the article. 

Construction for the $750 million project is expected to finish in 2024, according to the article.

“With the RWJBarnabas health system we are looking forward to a healthier future in which our citizens can receive all the care that they need without ever leaving the state of New Jersey,” said Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Chancellor Brian L. Strom. “Now, in our tireless quest to improve the life and health of our citizens, New Jersey opens another front in the war against disease, focused on cancer.”

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By National Law Review

• U.S. Customs postponed up the import of silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. because the products are suspected of being produced using forced labor.

• For future imports of solar energy equipment sourced from Xinjiang, China, the United States may use Withhold Release Orders (WROs) to block entry into the United States if there is reasonable suspicion of forced labor in the supply chain.

• The renewables industry is working together and with regulators to find ways to certify its supply chains are free of forced labor.

The Silica Products WRO

On June 24, the White House announced the first strike against forced labor in the solar equipment manufacturing industry. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) stopping the import of silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries. Hoshine is located in Xinjiang. The WRO states that CBP has information reasonably indicating that the company used forced labor to manufacture its products. As we reported here, the importer may obtain the release of goods subject to a WRO if the importer can prove to CBP’s satisfaction that the goods were not produced using forced labor. Such proof might take the form of a certificate of origin by the supplier, and a supply chain audit report demonstrating adequate anti-forced-labor procedures in the supply chain

Based on the wording of the WRO, we believe it is likely that more and broader import controls on equipment critical to the solar industry may follow.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security has designated Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) and four other Xinjiang companies to the Entity List. Generally, no person may export or reexport commodities, software, or technology subject to U.S. export controls to companies on the Entity List.

Finally, the U.S. Department o of Labor published a notice that updates its “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.” That list now includes polysilicon produced with forced labor in the PRC. Normally, the Department of Labor updates its list every two years. The fact that this updated is the first made outside of that two-year cycle, demonstrates how seriously the Biden administration takes the ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. It also signals that further restrictions on imports from and trade with the Xinjiang region are likely to follow.

Read the full story here