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Switzerland plans to sell masks of unsatisfactory quality to Africa. This stems from a “status report” from the army on June 13, 2020.
“We are currently examining an offer to sell all of our non-compliant FFP2 masks through a distributor on the African market,” said Brigadier Markus Näf, Procurement Coordinator at the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports ( VBS). in the Report that the Keystone-SDA news agency received on Saturday. The “Blick” reported on it first.
Näf went on to write that they are ready to sell these masks below cost price because they could no longer be marketed in Switzerland after the corresponding Covid regulation expires. The stock could “be easily replenished with masks of perfect quality and approved in Switzerland.”
The masks are thrown away
“After all, no masks were delivered to Africa,” an army spokesman said on request. The affected FFP2 masks were approved in Switzerland under the Covid regulation that was valid until the fall.
With the tightening of the Covid Regulation, they would no longer have met the strictest Swiss standards. The masks are not defective, in many countries they have been and will continue to be approved. Masks that are no longer approved in Switzerland according to the new regulations would be removed.
Defense Minister Viola Amherd tasked the DDPS internal audit department with verifying, among other things, whether proper internal controls were incorporated into the mask procurement process, as the army spokesperson said. Results should be available in spring.
The army pharmacy has purchased around 300 million protective masks on behalf of the Federal Council since the start of the pandemic. According to the army spokesman, more than 70 million of these were handed over to the cantons, the federal administration and the army. In spring 2020, more than 18 million hygienic masks were added to retail to provide a population boost.
Protective equipment in a VBS warehouse in Bern.
Keystone
