Customs cracks down on falsely declared medical supplies
Customs officers seize 500,000 surgical masks from a Fujian-based company which were falsely declared as non-surgical ones for export.
A Fujian-based company pasted paper strips on the packaging of surgical masks to disguise them as non-surgical ones.
Shanghai Customs has seized several batches of medical supplies as they were attempted to be exported illegally with false declarations since the General Administration of Customs issued two earlier public notices on tougher supervision over the export of such items.
Involved items include masks, protective clothing, test kits and goggles. Shanghai Customs' anti-smuggling department has launched investigations into all of the cases.
In one case, a Chongqing-based trading company declared a batch of goods on April 6, but failed to note the inclusion of medical supplies to customs authorities. After an inspection, officers found more than 70 types of goods, including the medical supplies, carried by the company were not properly declared. Among the items in question were 92,530 masks, including 1,350 surgical masks, 41,180 KN95 masks and 50,000 disposable masks.
Another case involves a Fujian-based company which declared surgical masks as non-surgical ones. The company entrusted an international freight agency to declare 500,000 non-surgical masks for export. However, a check showed that all the masks were of the surgical kind.
To disguise the masks as non-surgical, the company pasted paper strips on the packaging to cover the "medical use" label.
In a third case detailed by customs, a local biotechnology firm declared a shipment of 32 kilograms of kits for testing blood in stool samples. But in reality, the goods were 2,000 coronavirus antibody diagnostic test kits. Moreover, the company had no registration certificate for this medical product with the approval of drug administration.
Customs officers seize 2,000 antibody diagnostic test kits, which were falsely declared as kits for testing blood in stool samples by a local biotechnology firm.
Customs officers seize 2,000 antibody diagnostic test kits, which were falsely declared as kits for testing blood in stool samples by a local biotechnology firm.
