We took note of Belgian media reports on “3 million unusable FFP2 masks from China”. The Embassy has reached out to related Belgian authorities and learned that the batch of medical supplies was procured by the Belgian side through intermediaries. It is hoped that the Belgian side will find out about what has happened and settle this commercial issue fairly through legal procedures. We hope before that people will not reach any premature conclusions.

The Chinese side pays great attention to the quality of exported protective equipment. Competent authorities have further stepped up regulations and required the export companies to provide a written or digital document pledging that the products have received certification for medical devices in China and are in conformity with the quality standards of the recipient country or region.

The Embassy suggests that the Belgian side, in its haste to purchase much needed medical supplies, double check the license of the manufacturer and whether the products meet the standards required for intended usage prior to placing orders to minimize the chance of discrepancies.