Background
Since March 2020, Europe has been struggling to contain COVID-19, with some countries seeing multiple waves of outbreaks, causing the demand for medical supplies to soar.
On 31st March 2020, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the General Administration of Customs (GAC) and the National Medical Products Administration jointly issued the 2020 No. 5 Announcement on Orderly Export of Medical Materials to ensure the quality of medical exports. This regulation required export products to acquire a registration certification in China, which blocked some of the Chamber’s medical devices manufacturing member companies from exporting much-needed products overseas.
Result
The European Chamber Healthcare Equipment (HCE) Working Group immediately raised this issue to the European Union Delegation (EUD) in China, the MOFCOM and other stakeholders, and proposed suggestions on how to make the regulation more inclusive.
On 25th April 2020, the MOFCOM, the GAC and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued an announcement to strengthen the quality supervision and further standardise exports to ensure orderly procedures, which also removed the requirement for a registration certification issued in China.
Impact
- Rapid resolution of export restriction issues for medical device companies;
- Strengthened support for global pandemic response;
- Demonstrated effective advocacy and coordination by the HCE Working Group.
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