As part of the new activities as WCO Regional Customs Laboratory for Europe, the Customs Laboratories European Network (CLEN) organised its first webinar on mask analysis on 18 May 2021.

The webinar was attended by more than 80 analysts or scientists from customs laboratories and tariff departments of the Europe region. The presentations were given by the Italian customs laboratory and the Danish laboratory FORCE Technology.

Face masks and gloves are increasingly used as personal protective equipment in the battle against Covid-19 and they must comply with EU standards before they can be sold on the European market.

The objective of the webinar was to share knowledge, practices and experiences by discussing regulations and analytical aspects in order to ensure that masks meet the requirements for quality, safety and protection according to European standards.

During the webinar, the standards for medical, filtering and community face masks were presented, including their classification on the Harmonized System using the EU Combined Nomenclature.

The WCO congratulated DG TAXUD and the CLEN for organizing this first webinar. The WCO Secretariat also pointed out that controlling masks and gloves was also relevant for enforcement purposes to avoid the spreading of illegal medical supplies not meeting the required standards in the region.