The EU continues to exempt imports of medical equipment and personal protective equipment from customs duties

Pharma Network October 29 - The European Union announced on the 28th that it will continue to temporarily exempt imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from customs duties and value-added tax, thereby reducing the cost of masks, ventilators and other materials to enter the European Union market, to help member states cope with the outbreak of new crown pneumonia.
The European Commission said in a statement the same day, the current increase in new cases of coronavirus infection within the European Union, member states still need to import medical equipment and personal protective equipment to deal with the outbreak, so the European Union decided to extend the existing tax exemption until April 30 next year.
At the request of all member states and the UK, which is still in the "Brexit" transition period, the EU announced on 3 April that it would temporarily exempt imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from customs duties and value-added tax, when it was established that the duty-free period would be six months from 30 January this year, subject to a possible extension.
The European Commission's announcement states that, in terms of duty-free periods, masks are still the largest import of medical supplies in the EU, accounting for almost half of total imports of medical supplies;
In addition to continuing to exempt masks, ventilators and other materials from customs duties and value-added tax, the 28th EU also recommended that member states expand the scope of tax exemption, hospitals and health care workers to buy new crown vaccines and virus testing kits temporarily exempt from VAT, further reduce the burden of medical institutions to respond to the outbreak, tax-free period until WHO announced the end of the outbreak or the European Union announced a new value-added tax program.
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