In a world where the Covid-19 pandemic knows no borders, competition between states for the purchase of masks is raging. Caught off guard by the coronavirus pandemic, countries, especially Western ones, are looking for billions of masks, mainly in Asia: a situation that leads to disregard of the rules and fair play supposed to prevail in world economic exchanges.
Thus, masks ordered in China by France would have been bought by unidentified American buyers on the tarmac of Chinese airports, according to presidents of French regions who have suffered from these processes. "There is a foreign country that has paid three times the price of cargo on the tarmac," denounced the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Renaud Muselier. "We had a load taken by Americans who outbid a load that we had identified," said Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region.
Masks sold "to the highest bidder"
The American government has denied, but these buyers could be private players or federated states. The French government ensures secure supplies and does not have "details" on the possible American bid.
The phenomenon is global. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday he was "very worried" and asked for an investigation after Radio Canada reports that a shipment of masks purchased in China for Quebec had been delivered in smaller quantities than expected after part of it was sold "to the highest bidder", namely the United States.
"There is an extreme tension on these goods facing the immediate needs of the States which are slow to be filled", explains Bolloré Logistics, an important French logistician present in China.
"Multiple and varied" scammers
Ukrainian MP Andriï Motovylovets, who traveled to China in March to accompany a medical shipment, said on his Facebook account that he witnessed "frightening competition for medical equipment." Our consuls who go to (Chinese) factories, meet their colleagues from other countries (Russia, USA, France) who want to collect our orders. We paid for our orders in advance by bank transfer and have signed contracts. They have more money and cash. We fight for every cargo. ”
In this context, paying in cash works miracles. "The Americans pay cash and without seeing (the cargo), necessarily it can be more attractive for some who are just looking to do business with the distress of the whole world," said Valérie Pécresse.
France got hold of Italian parcels
In Bangkok, an order for 200,000 protective masks for the Berlin police was "confiscated" on Friday, said Berlin authorities, who suspect US intervention. At Chinese airports, around factories and logistics platforms, “the tension is enormous there. The crooks are many and varied, ”denounced Renaud Muselier.
These snags sometimes occur inside the European Union where several members have prohibited the export of medical equipment or decided on requisitions, like France. According to information from L'Express , France seized on March 5 on its territory masks belonging to the Swedish company Mölnlycke, which were intended for Spain and Italy.
Reinforced security around cargo
Few producers in China have export licenses. The rest are forced to go through trading companies if they want to be able to export. Hence the existence of many intermediaries.
All over the world, multiple stakeholders, states, regions, private actors, intermediaries, are short-circuited to get their hands on these precious materials, for which the secret services can be used. Thus, according to Le Figaro (French daily), the Israeli Mossad carried out in March a clandestine operation to recover kits for detecting the virus in an unknown country. "Since the start of the crisis, we have strengthened security and surveillance measures, even offering our customers to make deliveries on arrival under escort," explains Bolloré Logistics.
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