No more masks made in China in the hospital?
The 3,000 French hospitals and clinics will now be encouraged to buy their protective masks and gloves in France and Europe, the government being keen to create a local sector guaranteeing "supply in the event of a new global pandemic".
A circular "relating to the securing of the process of purchasing critical supplies and equipment" made public on Thursday, and dated December 15, was sent to all regional health authorities (ARS), which oversee hospitals on their own. territories.
Initially, the equipment identified as critical are sanitary gloves, as well as surgical masks and FFP2 masks, more airtight and more filtering - in the shape of a duckbill - which protect both the wearer and those around them.
The specifications of the purchasing authorities should not only be based on the low price.
They will have to be more demanding on compliance with European standards, quality control of masks, minimum levels of available stocks, the carbon footprint of the masks, the use of water and delivery times, indicates the circular.
The circular hailed by professionals
“Heavy penalties” will be considered in the event of a high rate of non-compliance with the technical quality requirements of the equipment, or the specified delivery times. These purchasing methods are applicable in calls for tenders "with immediate effect" to "all public health establishments and public pooled purchasing operators intervening for the benefit or on behalf of health establishments" specifies the text.
“Between summer 2020 and summer 2021, 97% of calls for tenders were allocated to import masks, ordered mainly by communities” laments Christian Curiel, president of the French union of F2M mask manufacturers and director general of the company Prism, based in Frontignan (Hérault).
He welcomed the circular, requested for more than a year by French manufacturers and already implemented in several other European countries.
The example of Germany
“Since the start of the pandemic, Germany has always reserved its public purchases for local producers based on the state of emergency,” notes Christian Curiel. In France, “from April to early November, the production line of FFP2 masks was almost at a standstill, all because public orders continued to focus on imports” that were cheaper, but of different quality, a- he told AFP. The commercial setbacks of French manufacturers in the face of imported masks have forced some of them "to divide their staff by ten", laments Christian Curiel.
A cruel paradox in a country which has nevertheless managed in a few months to achieve the objective set by President Emmanuel Macron of becoming autonomous in its production of masks in the face of the health crisis: While they only produced 3.5 million masks before the pandemic, French manufacturers now have the capacity to produce 100 million units per week, including 20 to 25% of FFP2 masks.
Currently, the French manufacturers of surgical masks thus produce at "50% of their capacities", and those which manufacture FFP2 masks produce "a few million masks per week", specified Christian Curiel.
Masks made in France remain "two to three times more expensive" than imported ones: between 4 and 10 cents per unit against 2 to 4 cents for the Chinese.
"But 75% of their value remains in France, against only 15% for a mask from Asia" according to him.
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