(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) The EU extends the duty-free period for imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment to the end of this year

  China News Agency, Brussels, April 20 (Reporter De Yongjian) The European Union announced on the 20th that it continues to temporarily exempt imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from tariffs and value-added tax, and the validity period is extended to December 31 this year.

  The European Commission stated in an announcement that day, given that EU member states are still facing challenges in fighting the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it is still very important to import medical equipment and personal protective equipment from third countries. The EU decided to extend the validity period of the tax exemption from April 30 to 12 this year. On the 31st, it will continue to provide financial support to member states to help medical staff and patients obtain urgently needed anti-epidemic materials such as masks and ventilators.

  When the new crown pneumonia epidemic spread in Europe in April last year, the EU decided to temporarily exempt imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from tariffs and value-added tax at the request of all member states. The tax exemption period will be calculated from January 30, 2020, and the validity period is Six months but can be extended as appropriate, and then the EU extended the validity period of the tax exemption twice in July and October last year.

  At present, in addition to exempting imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from tariffs and value-added tax, the EU decided in December last year to reduce or exempt value-added tax on new crown vaccines, virus detection kits and related services; on the 12th of this month, the EU decided to further expand the scope of tax incentives. It is proposed to exempt important goods and services distributed by the EU during the epidemic. If the relevant proposal is successfully approved, the tax exemption period will start from January 1 this year.

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