The Community of Madrid has begun to receive a new consignment of KN95 type masks from the Chinese manufacturer Wenzhou Haoshuo Home Textile , the same one that sent the previous ones. The difference is that now the containers do not carry the European CE certificate, as confirmed by EL MUNDO sources close to the company.

The new packaging does not use the flag of the Community of Madrid as the background, nor the motto "Adelante, Madrid", but the initials KN95, which correspond to masks that repel at least 95% of the filter material and, therefore, are suitable for professional use with infected patients.

In previous tests, the masks acquired by the Isabel Díaz Ayuso government did not meet that requirement. The tests of the Ministry of Labor showed an ostensibly lower result in some of the masks, less than 88%, and even 70%. Although one of the masks themselves tested achieved the approved .

However, the test that has been carried out on the new consignment of masks at the Wenzhou Haoshuo Home Textile factory, in Haushuo (China), grants them a minimum protection of 95.19% and a maximum of 97.02%, according to the documentation that this newspaper has accessed. It must be remembered that the local tests of the first batch also passed the cut. It is important to note that for civil use such a high level of filtering resistance is not essential.

The Madrid Regional Executive bought 14 million masks from this manufacturer, in two batches of 7 and 7 million. From the first round 4.3 million have already been distributed, according to sources from the Ministry of Health. The new material without CE seal belongs to the second batch. In March, the government allowed the purchase of personal protective equipment without this stamp, as a "temporary exception" during the pandemic.

Those of the first batch had it, but it was invalid, because it was issued by Ente Certificazione Macchine , which does not have the authorization to grant it. This is a stamp that was included on the back of the specific packaging requested by the Community Government. However, Wenzhou Haoshuo Home Textile was no longer marketing those CE marked face masks when Ayuso placed the order. It happens that China only allows to export with that seal the material that has been endorsed by an official European laboratory, after the avalanche of sales that did not comply with the regulations.

In this context, the company believed that it is paying for the broken dishes of a "labeling error" that was not its own, and on May 14 it sent a letter to the Madrid president in which she complained about the reputational cost she was suffering from that "mistake". In the letter, which this newspaper revealed, the manufacturer asked the president to lend a hand "decisively" to clarify the controversy, based on the "good faith" that had united them in their business relationship.

On the left, mask with CE marking, and on the right, the new one, which does not have one.

"We would like to leave it to your discretion whether we should act together or on our own," the manufacturer told Díaz Ayuso in the letter. In other words, he ordered her to get involved in cleaning up her good name, because the company considered itself innocent. Now, the facts suggest that the withdrawal of the EC has been agreed upon, which would leave both parties happy.

Sources close to the company have been insisting that they market these masks without European marking. And they acknowledge that Wenzhou Haoshuo is waiting for a valid CE certificate to be included in their exports. It should come next week. In addition, the company argues that it is "registered" in the department ( FDA ) that issues the US seal, but this mask appears on the official website of that body with the apostille of "not classified".

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • China
  • Madrid
  • Isabel Díaz Ayuso
  • Madrid's community
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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