The Government Logistics Department (GLD) announced that it immediately stopped making payments and has rescinded procurement contracts to the supplier of surgical masks bearing false trade descriptions.

In a statement, the GLD said the masks concerned were procured in March through direct engagement from the local supplier which claimed the products were from Shanghai with specifications in compliance with the American Society for Testing & Materials F2100 Level 1 standard and offered a price in line with the prevailing market price.

As such, the GLD awarded the procurement contracts to the supplier which provided documents to demonstrate that the masks complied with the relevant standard upon request.

As at early June, the supplier has provided 6.7 million of the masks to GLD and received payment of $15.2 million.

When inspecting the masks, the department explained that it followed established procedures to conduct sample inspection and did not find any irregularities in the samples.

It also requested the supplier to submit testing reports to ascertain the quality of the masks and passed product samples to an accredited laboratory for testing. Such testing showed the total bacteria count did not exceed the standard limit.

Having learnt that the Customs & Excise Department (C&ED) was conducting an investigation into the masks with suspected false trade descriptions, the GLD immediately stopped receiving the masks that have yet to be delivered and will seek to recover losses and compensation incurred.

The department said it suspected the supplier had submitted false documents and added that the case was referred to Police for investigation.

Around 3.12 million masks involved were distributed by the GLD to 11 government departments, mainly the Social Welfare Department, disciplinary departments and the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department.

The GLD has notified and asked them to stop using the masks and arranged to recover the problematic products. GLD estimated that around 1.58 million masks would be recovered.

Noting that all of the masks recovered and the current stock of about 3.59 million will be passed to the C&ED, the department emphasised that it will endeavour to assist law enforcement departments in their investigation.