- Internet users claim that the government has set the price of the mask at tobacconists at 5 euros, a rate five times higher than in Spain.
- However, it is not the same type of mask, since those in question in France are made of fabric and can be reused several times.
- The price of these masks has not been regulated by the French State and is not fixed. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance, however asked the DGCCRF to make proposals on the matter within two days.
"A scam", "A shame", "A thief state" ... A post published this weekend on Facebook has aroused the indignation of many Internet users. In question ? The price of masks sold by tobacconists to fight against the coronavirus, which would have been set at 5 euros for the government ... against 0.96 euros in Spain.
Internet users in their turn make the comparison with other countries, widely tackling the French government in passing: "I work in Germany, everyone receives free from the German state five masks per person. Macron and his click LREM is really rotten "," And 8 cents in all supermarkets in Morocco ... "," The radars do not report anymore, must find recipes. "
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"Up to now, the price of masks in Spain has been anything and everything," says Marta, a Spanish woman living in Paris, joined by 20 Minutes . "Stores sold the lot of 50 masks at 170 euros, my mother had sent me a screenshot":
"Now I think the Spanish government has imposed a price," says Marta. In fact, after a meeting of the interministerial commission for the price of medicines, the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, announced on Tuesday April 21 that the government had decided to fix the sale price of masks to the public at 0.96 euro per unit. But these are surgical masks, indicated for people carrying the virus, and which can be used for only four hours.
If the publication that circulates on social networks is therefore true for Spain - but only for a type of non-reusable equipment - what about the French side?
A price of five euros just "indicative"
As for tobacconists, some are counting on masks sold at five euros each. But these are non-sanitary masks, called "general public", which correspond to a mask made of portable fabric by everyone. "The price of 5 euros corresponds to that of a standard fabric mask, washable and reusable twenty times", explained Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists, to the Parisian this Thursday Or a mask at 25 cents the use . Cheaper, therefore, than the Spanish tariff. But the Confederation then specified in a press release that this price of 5 euros was only "indicative" and that nothing was fixed.
On the side of Bercy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance, was questioned this Friday by the newspaper Les Echos , on the framing of the price of "general public" masks: " It is not topical. Unlike surgical masks, for which one mask is similar to another, those made of textiles are very different. And to get an idea of the price, you have to relate the price of the reusable textile mask to the number of washes. A 1.50 euro mask washable 30 times is a mask that costs 5 cents per use. I think that each consumer will quickly be in a position to choose what suits them best. Depending on the value for money, durability, comfort or style. It is not the same as for hydroalcoholic gel, where the product is homogeneous, hence the logic of price controls. "
"We are watching very closely to avoid any abuse"
A supplement was however given this Monday in a press point: "I asked the DGCCRF [Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud] to make me proposals, within 48 hours, allowing to guarantee the quality and accessibility in terms of price of the masks sold to the general public, said Agnès Pannier-Runacher. I will be making decisions on this basis in the next few days. We are monitoring this subject very closely to avoid abuse. "
In a motion for a resolution that she is preparing to submit to the National Assembly, the deputy LR Marie-Christine Dalloz will also ask the government to establish "a framework for the prices of masks for the general public" with a view to progressive deconfinement, relays the economic magazine Capital . "The State must imperatively exercise control over prices to avoid too great a disparity, even the abuses that we had observed with hydroalcoholic gel, before the framing decree of March 23. The National Assembly already voted on Friday April 17 to reduce the VAT rate from 20 to 5.5% for masks and hydroalcoholic gel.
"Cloth masks as thin as veil sold by unscrupulous colleagues"
Pharmacists have also been selling this type of mask since Monday. Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of pharmaceutical unions of France, specified this Sunday on the antenna of the news channel BFMTV that some, "usable 50 times, may cost between 10 and 15 euros". This gives a mask at 30 euro cents maximum per use.
"The masks I ordered are less than 5 euros, and they can be reused five times", says a pharmacist based in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), contacted by 20 Minutes . “But the group to which I belong suggests that we make a collective order to lower the price. Anyway, it is very supervised and the certifications take time. I do not receive mine until May 9. We must respect the Afnor standard, even if I have seen masks of fabric as thin as veil sold by unscrupulous colleagues… In any case, it must be remembered that it does not provide 100% protection. In short, we must above all be careful, because customers remove it to speak to us, for example… ”
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