European Commission suspends delivery of millions of Chinese masks

Text by: RFI Follow

The European Commission has decided to suspend the delivery of millions of face masks purchased by the EU from a Chinese supplier, the first batch of which had shown defects.

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With our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet

In addition to group tenders to enable EU countries to buy medical equipment jointly, the European Commission has also made available 100 million euros to buy protective equipment from its own budget.

Among other things, it purchased ten million FFP2 masks for medical staff in China. The first batch of a million and a half masks was dispatched this week to 16 countries of the Union and to the United Kingdom. Upon receipt, some found that they were defective.

"  In the context of the purchase of these masks, the Commission has scrupulously followed all the control procedures," assures Stefan de Keersmaecker, spokesperson for the European Commission. Obviously, when the masks arrive, you have to check their quality, which the Poles did, among other things.  "

The Netherlands made the same observation as Poland and the Commission was therefore obliged to warn the fifteen other recipient countries to check the masks received. It has also suspended delivery of the remaining approximately eight and a half million masks and does not rule out legal action against the supplier.

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