KARACHI: Collectorate of Customs Exports Additional Collector Headquarters Habib Ahmad issued office order clarifying exportability of masks, suits, gowns, coveralls etc.
The office order no. 25/2020 read as “in light of SRO 239/(I)/2020 dated 24.4.2020 read with letter no. 5(20)EP/2013-NCOVID-19 dated 6.5.2020, Ministry of Health clarification issued vide DO No. 1/1/2020-Secy dated 2.5.2020 and in light of recommendation of the committee constituted by Chief Collector of Customs (Enforcement South), Karachi vide order dated 20.5.2020, it is clarified that the following items are not listed in SRO 239(I)/2020, therefore, their export is allowed:
- a) Washable and re-usable gowns, coveralls, scrub suits, etc made up of any material other than Tyvek fabrics.
- b) Textile masks with any composition except those having the following features:-
- a) If in single layer is not made up of meltdown nonwoven fabric.
- b) If in multiple layers at least one of the lawyer is of meltblown nonwoven fabric.
Earlier, the federal government placed a ban on the export of personal protective equipment after the country’s coronavirus tally crossed 950.
In its bid to tackle the coronavirus, the government has banned the export of the N95 mask, surgical masks, and other face masks along with hand sanitisers, bio-hazard bags, goggles, disposable gloves, and gowns, said a notification from the trade ministry.
The move comes at a time when countries have rushed to protect their supply of masks as panic buying, hoarding and theft has spread over fears of the deadly coronavirus epidemic, with global health officials warning that stocks of protective gear were rapidly dwindling.
“We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting our health workers,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva on March 5, noting prices of masks have surged sixfold and the cost of ventilators has tripled.
The demand and price of protective medical gear, especially disposable face masks, has gone up since last December when, coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China.
