Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment of Chinese mask manufacturer Jinnian Printing and Packaging Co., Ltd. on June 5, it has recently sued a second Chinese mask company. . U.S. federal prosecutors have accused a Chinese manufacturer of selling 140,000 defective masks to a U.S. distributor, the second indictment against a company for allegedly selling substandard products that could be worn during the coronavirus pandemic. bring risks.
On June 18, New Jersey Federal Prosecutor Craig Carpenito (transliteration) announced charges against Chinese manufacturer Crawford Technology Group (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. Group (HK) Co. LTD.) violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by selling counterfeit masks to the United States.
During the COVID-19 epidemic in May 2020, Crawford Technology Group, a digital electronics company based in Shenzhen, China, manufactured 140,400 low-quality KN95 filter masks and sold them to the United States.
The packaging of these masks, as well as the masks themselves, incorrectly state that they are 95% effective at filtering harmful particles in the air. %. The masks and their packaging also claim they meet existing EU and Chinese standards, which require masks to have at least 94% or 95% filtration efficiency respectively.
Crawford also advertises the masks on its website under the “epidemic” tab, claiming Its masks have “4 layers of protection” and “passed the national standard 2626-2000 test.” The page also shows “KN95 filtration rate reaches 95%” and “KN95 filtration effect reaches 95%”, noting that its masks can prevent “severe haze, bacteria and dust.”
Prosecutors claimed that these statements were false and misleading because the average filtration efficiency of Crawford’s respirators was 22.33%, well below the required threshold.
Prosecutor Carpenito said defective and misbranded personal protective equipment could inadvertently affect all This equipment is a danger to anyone who buys and uses it. “The Department of Justice and our partners will continue to work to identify unscrupulous vendors selling dangerous equipment and stop them from further endangering health care workers and first responders.”
If convicted, the company will be fined up to $200,000.
Crawford is not the first Chinese mask company to be sued by the United States
On June 5, China Jinnian Packaging and Printing Co., Ltd. ( King Year Packaging and Printing Co. Ltd. (King Year Packaging) is also accused of exporting nearly half a million counterfeit N95 masks to the United States and falsely claiming that these masks met the standards of N95 masks.
According to the indictment, Jinnian Packaging produced a total of 495,200 inferior products from April 6 to April 21 this year. N95 masks are exported to the United States with certification labels from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In order to conceal the inferior quality of the product, Golden Year Packaging submitted false registration statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Subsequently, the batch of masks was seized at New York’s JFK Airport. According to the complaint, the mask importer paid the Chinese company more than $1 million.
Douglas Korneski, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark District, pointed out that “the lawsuit shows the defendants’ blatant disregard for the safety of American citizens.” Through their actions, the defendants will directly put the health of emergency responders, hospital employees, and other frontline workers at risk for the sake of profit. The defendants are attempting to circumvent government oversight by mislabeling the quality of their products. The FBI will continue “Remain vigilant and apprehend those criminals who seek to exploit the current crisis.”
Jinnian Packaging faces three charges of violating the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. If convicted, each charge could be punished with a fine of up to $500,000, for a total of at least $1.5 million!
CDC mask sampling survey results show that many domestic brands are unqualified
On June 19, the CDC website updated the U.S. National Occupational Safety and Health The National Personal Protection Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), a subsidiary of NIOSH, conducted a sampling survey of masks on the market. Among them, the highest filtration rate of many domestic brands did not reach the 95% required by N95.
However, NIOSH pointed out that some of these manufacturers claim that they have not produced or exported masks to the United States, and may have been branded or counterfeited. In this regard, they listed another More than 10 companies in Anhui, Beijing, Dongguan, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Zhongshan and other places are included in the list of “Respirator evaluation results are considered to be counterfeit and/or misuse of company names”.
Fake and shoddy products are not only harmful toThis has created hidden dangers for the health of health workers, and it has also harmed the credibility of Chinese products in the world.
In May, the testing certification number TC84A-4329 granted by the U.S. CDC to a Shanghai manufacturer (Shanghai Dasheng Co.) was misappropriated by other Chinese mask manufacturers and then passed on as counterfeit products. It was sold to the U.S. market and distributed to front-line medical staff in some U.S. hospitals, triggering a large-scale recall.
As of June 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized 750,000 in 86 cases Shoddy masks. On June 7, U.S. federal customs officers seized nearly 10,000 unapproved KN95 masks produced in China in Philadelphia.
Domestic masks and other anti-epidemic materials have been refused entry by the United States on the grounds of standards, and relevant policies have had twists and turns. Finally, the U.S. market was finally opened, and the franchise list once reached more than 80 manufacturers. However, due to unqualified testing, the franchise list was quickly reduced to only 14, and then further reduced to 8. China’s mask exports to the United States were There was a cliff-like decline, and the market door that had just been opened was closed again.
Now that the United States has successively prosecuted two Chinese mask manufacturers, it seems that the U.S. Department of Justice has begun to liquidate these manufacturers of counterfeit and inferior masks. No matter what, whether at home or abroad, you must still operate with integrity, especially in this kind of business where human life is at stake, and you must not ignore your conscience, otherwise you will be punished sooner or later.
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