Chinese knockoffs show up with Taiwan's real-name masks

台灣實名制口罩出現中國仿冒品

China-made masks found mixed with shipment of Taiwan's real-name masks in New Taipei pharmacies


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Numerous pharmacies across New Taipei City on Wednesday (Sept. 2) reported receiving masks made in China mixed in with their latest shipment of domestically produced real-name masks.

On Wednesday, when pharmacies in New Taipei received their latest shipment of what should be Taiwan-made masks for the government's real-name rationing system, they also received masks with labeling in Simplified Chinese script seen in China and indicating they were made by a company in Anhui Province.

Chen Chao-yuan (陳昭元), chairman of the New Taipei City Pharmacists Association (NTPA), was cited by Liberty Times as saying that there are more than 1,100 pharmacies selling masks under the real-name rationing system in the city. Chen estimated that about one-third of the pharmacies, more than 300, received the counterfeit masks.

After receiving reports from pharmacists, Chen said that the association immediately contacted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He said that all of the masks had been recalled from pharmacies and they have not been released on the market.

Chen said that the Chinese-made masks were found with the same batch of masks produced by the same "national mask team." The reason for the mixup is still unknown, and Chen said he could not reveal the name of the manufacturer, as the case is currently being investigated by the FDA and police.

SET News cited pharmacist Liang Shih-min (梁世民) as saying that among the standard packages which contain 50 masks each, several were found to be labeled as having been made by the Anhui Anjingrui Nonwoven Products Co., Ltd. (安徽安景瑞無紡布製品有限公司). If consumers receive masks with abnormalities, they can go back to the pharmacy where they purchased them, and the pharmacy will then check the batch number to confirm which factory shipped the products and carried out quality control.