An SWR market check: While mask suppliers continue to wait for their money, millions of masks that have now expired are still in storage. The mask shops are becoming increasingly expensive for taxpayers because these masks are now supposed to be used for energy purposes.

Mask suppliers fight in court!

The Federal Ministry of Health purchased respiratory masks worth several billion euros during the mask shortage in March 2020. However, invoices from numerous suppliers are still outstanding to this day. As a result, many retailers are now suing the Ministry of Health and fighting for full payment. One reason for the lack of payment provided by the ministry is alleged quality defects.

In fact, there were no options in Germany to test Chinese masks according to standards. Germany therefore introduced its own criteria, e.g. B. the appearance, color, shape or tear strength of the tapes. According to experts, it is now difficult to verify whether the masks actually had quality defects at the time of delivery, as the Federal Ministry of Health claims. While some suppliers are still fighting for their money, others have become multi-millionaires with mask businesses during the crisis.

How did the million dollar purchase come about?

In 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health advertised so-called open house contracts and promised retailers who could deliver at least 25,000 masks by April 30, 2020 that they would purchase the masks in unlimited quantities - for €4.50 per FFP2 mask. The ministry was then flooded with offers and therefore ended the tender early. In addition, the Federal Ministry of Health concluded direct contracts without tendering with various companies - even after the calculated need for masks had long been more than met. There has so far been no clarification on this at the federal level.

Shelf life has now expired!

Many of the masks that were expensively purchased in 2020 are now expiring. They may therefore no longer be placed on the market. That's why these masks should disappear now. There is a new tender from the Ministry of Health for “energy recovery”. This means that the masks should be burned.

Source and film authors: SWR-Marktcheck & Barbara Hirl, Moritz Hartnagel

This video is a long version from the ARD Plusminus broadcast from November 16, 2022, which was hosted by SWR. The entire documentary is also available in the ARD media library at: http://x.swr.de/s/plusminusardmediathek
Also read: Mont Gerrard: Heated jackets on TikTok?


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )