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EU: tens of millions of defective anti-Covid products seized for a year

2021-06-11T06:53:42.491Z


Tens of millions of defective products linked to protection against Covid-19 - masks, gels, tests - have been seized for more than a year in ...


Tens of millions of defective products linked to protection against Covid-19 - masks, gels, tests - have been seized for more than a year in the EU thanks to an investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf ), this organization announced Thursday, June 10.

Read also: Fraud, conspiracy, false experts: scientific integrity undermined by the Covid crisis

"

Since March 2020, we have investigated and responded to the growing threat of counterfeit, substandard or dangerous products,

" said Olaf's general manager, Ville Itala, presenting the 2020 report of this anti-fraud gendarme of the EU. "

And even before the first vaccine was administered, we sounded the alarm on the offers of fake vaccines, which, from what we know, has prevented any fraud in this area despite many attempts,

" he said. he added.

Olaf's investigation led to the seizure of 52 million products such as hand gels containing dangerous amounts of methanol, substandard masks, fake test kits, and identified 1150 suspicious operators, according to the latest updated data provided by the Olaf press service. In its annual report, Olaf notes that "

many of these operators are based outside the EU

", and that "

many are companies which opportunistically, in an attempt to profit from the pandemic, have embarked on a activity without having any experience in the matter

”. “

Long chains of intermediaries were created overnight in many EU countries and beyond, in order to hide theidentity of fraudsters

", Making them difficult to identify, explained the Deputy Director General of Olaf, Ernesto Bianchi.

140,000 liters of gel seized

The action of the anti-fraud gendarme notably made it possible to seize in 2020 in several EU countries some 140,000 liters of hand gel from Turkey which contained a dangerous amount of methanol, a toxic substance, following an alert. given by the Danish authorities. Olaf also took part in a joint operation with the customs services of the member states, which has also made it possible to seize 50 million additional masks so far. This operation demonstrated the importance of "

better coordination

" between "

the customs and certification authorities responsible for determining whether a particular mask is an FFP2 or an FFP3

" and between the Member States, commented Ernesto Bianchi. "

We still see a lot of confusion on the question of who has to certify, when masks arrive in a country of the Union before being shipped to another Member State for use there

, ”he said.

In addition, Olaf has also sounded the alarm on counterfeit pesticides which now represent "

up to 13.8% of pesticides used in the EU

", and represent a danger to health, a source of pollution. air, soil and water, and a threat to bees in particular. In 2020, Olaf concluded 230 investigations into fraud cases and issued 375 recommendations to national and European authorities. The office will now work in collaboration with the brand new European public prosecutor's office, which took office on June 1, which is also competent in matters of fraud but which, unlike Olaf, has the power to prosecute.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-06-11

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