Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Millions of face masks in Switzerland fail to conform to regulations

A nurse putting on a face mask
The inspection targeted over 34 million masks destined for healthcare institutions, including hospitals. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Ten out of 29 shipments of medical face masks contained products that did not meet regulations, according to an audit conducted by the Federal Customs Administration and Swissmedic.

The 29 shipments inspected between May and July 2020 correspond to over 34 million protective masks destined for healthcare settings, such as hospitals, Swissmedic said on Tuesday. Among the shortcomings found was the absence of compliance mark CE on the packaging to indicate that the masks meet health-and-safety requirements set out by relevant European Union directives.

Swissmedic, the agency responsible for market surveillance of medical devices, subsequently launched five administrative proceedings. One of them led to masks being banned from the market for medical use.

In June Swissmedic issued a warning about potentially inferior face masks appearing in Switzerland, as sellers with no experience in the therapeutic products sector began importing and selling masks. Medical face masks, also known as surgical masks, must meet standard EN 148683 and be labelled with a CE mark. Masks that do not conform to these requirements must be labelled “not for medical use”.

The inspection was part of a global campaign to combat the trade in illegal drugs and medical devices coordinated by the World Customs Organization. Authorities from 99 countries participated in the operation, dubbed “Operation Stop”.

Coming soon Lost Cells A podcast uncovering the human stories behind private stem cell banking's promises and failures. Get notified

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Grand Prix Art for art casters, artists and architects

More

Winners of top Swiss art award announced

This content was published on Felix Lehner, Pamela Rosenkranz and Miroslav Sik have been awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Art/Prix Meret Oppenheim 2025.

Read more: Winners of top Swiss art award announced
Watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

More

Swiss watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

This content was published on The watch industry had to contend with a weakening of its exports last year, which reached a volume of CHF25.9 billion ($28.5 billion).

Read more: Swiss watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR