Airport staff unload boxes of face masks and medical supplies from an airplane of Air China, in Athens, Greece, on March 21, 2020. Approximately eight tons of medical supplies provided by the Chinese government to Greece after Athens' urgent request arrived on Saturday morning at Athens international airport on an Air China flight. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

Applications for CE credentials are hardened as the number of applications surge with many Chinese medical supplies manufacturers looking at the EU market amid a worsening COVID-19 crisis in Europe. Application fee also rose.

"At the moment, there are more than 10,000 medical supplies producing enterprises that are applying for CE certification in China, and agencies are too busy to deal with the applications," a consultant surnamed Xu told the Global Times on Monday. 

Xu works for Mambo Testing & Certification Centre based in Shanghai, which is a Chinese agent of Italy's certification agency Ente Certificazione Macchine Srl, whose notified number in the EU is ECM NB1282.

"At present, the fastest processing time for CE certification is 10 working days. And the certification fees of agencies with fast processing times, such as CELAB SRL of Italy and ICR Polska Sp. z o.o. of Poland, have increased, which were largely due to lack of labor during the pandemic. The fees for other agencies are almost unchanged," said Xu.

Another consultant surnamed Wu of a Shanghai-based CE certification agent PTC Testing told the Global Times on Monday that the fee for CE certification of masks has increased by 6,000 yuan ($842.8) on average since last week and the processing time has been prolonged by at least two days from the previous seven-day period.

Wu clarified that the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe is severe, resulting in a reduced number of staff working in the office leading to longer processing duration.

CE credential is a necessity for made-in-China masks to enter the EU. The mark, appearing on many products, signifies that products sold in the European Economic Area (EEA) have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.

Of the category of masks, surgical masks need stricter credentials to export. Xu said that when surgical masks are exported from China, enterprises first need to register and record the products with the State Food and Drug Administration, with a processing time of 30 days. 

Chinese enterprises, which used to produce autos, diapers and other products, have increased production lines for face masks now.

For example, Chinese energy giant Sinopec produced surgical masks and sold them in its gasoline stations. Compared with masks for daily use, surgical masks are sterilized with ethylene oxide.

"If the company has never produced surgical masks before, it has to be certified in China before applying for a CE marking," Xu added.