- Since the containment came into effect, volunteers have made protective visors against Covid-19.
- This initiative would however be likely to be considered as unfair competition or disguised work since the adoption of new compliance standards in late April, according to a widespread interpretation on social networks.
- If a new standard has been implemented, it does not prevent the voluntary manufacture ofvisors, but these can not be presented as a means of protection against Covid-19, as explained by the Directorate General of Companies to 20 Minutes .
Has a government measure put an end to the activity of the many volunteers who have been manufacturing plastic visors for several weeks to provide protection against the Covid-19?
This is what suggests a viral tweet published a few days ago: “The platform https://covid3d.fr which distributed free 3D printed visors closes because giving or selling at cost price is unfair competition for war profiteers. Nausea, dirty hands, and no visor. The publication is accompanied by the screenshot of a message published by the site in question announcing the "final closure of Covid3D". The capture mentions instructions from the General Directorate of Labor (DGT) and the General Directorate of Enterprises (DGE) on the "conditions for placing protective visors on the market".
The https://t.co/6ElCbJG2eN platform which distributed free 3D printed visors closes because giving or selling at cost price is unfair competition for war profiteers
Nausea, dirty hands, and not visor 🔥 # BasLesMasques # COVID19 pic.twitter.com/OZI5XSTRgw
“To summarize this directive: the donation or sale at cost price of a visor can be reclassified as unfair competition. Making a visor for free, even by a volunteer, can be reclassified as disguised work. The visors must now meet a technical standard that we cannot control, ”we can read in this text.
If this widely relayed press release has given rise to many interpretations and criticisms in the community of "makers", used to making their own objects, and in particular among voluntary manufacturers of visors, it lends to government action an incorrect scope and intention. .
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The text in question has also been modified on the Covid3D site since the message now sums up this "directive" to a single characteristic: "The visors must now meet a technical standard that we are not able to control. "
Contacted by 20 Minutes , a member of the Covid3D site team explains to us: “The text we published was based on information read on another site, which did not say that the voluntary manufacture of protective visors was prohibited but who made several assumptions about the consequences and the origin of this decision. As everything was based on interpretations, we finally preferred to update it to simply evoke the new technical standard ”.
Joined by 20 Minutes , the DGE indicates for its part that “the two documents of April 30 and 23, 2020 aim to simplify the placing on the market of protective visors against Covid while ensuring a level of security adapted to protection against this virus and not to give new constraints to producers ”. Respectively, by authorizing the placing on the market of visors for which the conformity assessment process has not yet been completed, and by simplifying the tests required to carry out this assessment.
A “legal vagueness”
But reading the press release from the Covid3D site, coupled with a lack of verified information on the subject, has caused concern for several volunteer visor manufacturers, such as Alexandre Henic, in New Aquitaine. "I got scared when I read these stories of unfair competition and disguised work, so I inquired, I talked to other manufacturers, who explained to me that it was a simple interpretation of the texts, but there is a real legal vagueness around this question, so I'm waiting for the prefecture's response to find out if I can continue to make visors voluntarily, ”he explains to 20 Minutes .
A step already taken by Ghislain Vineis, another volunteer "maker" of visors, who welcomes the feedback obtained from his various interlocutors: "I called the government hotline on the Covid to ask what it was, the person asked his manager, who confirmed to me that I have the right, as a volunteer, to make visors, they even told me "go ahead, go ahead and congratulations for your initiative". I also contacted the Drôme prefecture, which told me "no problem, you can make visors" ».
The production of non-standardized visors remains possible, on one condition
The Directorate-General for Enterprises also confirms to us: "Of course, it is still possible to manufacture visors which do not meet the requirements mentioned above, but in this case, it is not possible to claim that they protect the carrier against the Covid-19. Thus, contrary to [what has been said on social networks], the donation or sale at cost price of a visor cannot be reclassified as unfair competition. Likewise, making a visor free of charge, even by a volunteer, will not be reclassified as hidden work ”.
And to conclude: "If a visor is not produced in accordance with a standard and has not been evaluated by a third party, it can still be placed on the market provided that none mention cannot suggest that the visor would serve as protection against Covid-19 or any other biological agent ”, concludes the DGE.
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