#CENELEC - European standards for medical supplies made freely available to facilitate increase of production

Upon the urgent request of the Commission, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), in collaboration with all their members, have agreed to immediately make available a number of European standards for certain medical devices and personal protective equipment.

This action will help both EU and third-country companies willing to manufacture these items to swiftly start production and place products on the internal market more easily while ensuring a high degree of safety.

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “I am encouraging manufacturers to increase and diversify production, building on positive examples such as textile and shoe manufacturers starting to produce masks and gowns. I will do everything possible to support their efforts. I am pleased to announce that following contacts with the Commission, CEN/CENELEC has agreed to make freely available the standards needed for such companies to be able to produce masks and other protective equipment.”

The 11 standards developed by CEN and potentially three additional ones developed jointly with ISO that are made available cover common filtering masks, medical gloves and protective clothing. You can find the full press release with a list of available standards here.

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