The European Commission has decided to waive customs duties and VAT on the import of medical devices and protective equipment from other countries in order to help the fight against COVID-19.

The measure is temporary and comes in response to requests from EU member states and the UK. It is hoped this will make it easier financially to get the medical equipment doctors, nurses and patients need.

Disaster

The waiver covers masks and protective equipment, as well as testing kits, ventilators and other medical equipment. It will apply for six months, backdated to 30 January, though the commission has said it could be extended further.

EU customs legislation allows such relief for the “benefit of disaster victims”, while EU VAT legislation has similar provisions. The commission says the COVID-19 pandemic and the “extreme” challenges it poses constitute a disaster under EU legislation.

Directive

Meanwhile, the EU has also postponed for a year the implementation of a new directive on medical devices.

Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said the EU executive was taking a pragmatic approach, so that the EU’s medical industries could focus all their energy on helping to fight the pandemic.

The new regulations are aimed at increasing transparency on medical devices across the EU, but the commission says the current rules will continue to guarantee the protection of public health.