Coronavirus: China loosens controls on medical exports after suppliers complain they were ‘banned’
- Manufacturers complained a rule banning overseas sales unless they held a domestic licence was too restrictive because of the difficulty of obtaining the latter
- Exporters will also have to declare that their products meet quality controls in the recipient country after a string of complaints about substandard equipment
China has changed its rules on exporting medical supplies following a series of complaints from manufacturers that they were too strict.
Previously Chinese firms were only given export licences for products such as Covid-19 test kits, medical face masks, protective clothing, ventilators and infrared thermometers if they had a licence to sell the same products at home.
But that requirement was dropped in a notice issued on Saturday night by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and State Administration for Market Regulation.
A number of countries that received medical supplies and test kits from China have complained about their quality and the Ministry of Commerce also said that it will approve exports based on a list it is compiling of firms with foreign licences and registrations and a declaration that their products meet local standards.
Industrial sources said the rule banning exports unless the manufacturer had a domestic licence, introduced on March 31, was too tight. Suppliers complained that the process of obtaining a domestic licence was too complicated and time-consuming and effectively banned them selling their products abroad.
The authorities started seeking the views of manufacturers in mid-April and were seeking to fine-tune their policies, a test kit producer based in Jiangsu province said.
