In the latest report to the Prime Minister, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said most importers from the EU and US have stopped placing orders and receiving deliveries until the end of April or June.

Agtex 28 is one of the companies suffering from the move. It decided to shift to face masks to export to familiar markets.

Nguyen Van Hung, president of Agtex, said the company sent product samples to the US, Australia, Japan and the EU two weeks ago and is awaiting orders, which will help the company keep operational.

Hung said partners set very high requirements on products and each country has its own standards. Enterprises not only have to make products meeting standards stipulated in the Ministry of Health’s Decision No 870, but also standards set by importing countries.

Vitajean said it has exported the first batches of 3-layer face masks which prevent respiratory droplets, kill bacteria and protect skin to the US and some European countries, including Poland and the Netherlands. Each of the markets wull import 20,000-50,000 products.

Vitajean said it has exported the first batches of 3-layer face masks which prevent respiratory droplets, kill bacteria and protect skin to the US and some European countries, including Poland and the Netherlands. Each of the markets wull import 20,000-50,000 products.

Before shipping the batches of goods, Vitajeans sent product samples to the import partners for approval.

Pham Van Viet, chair of Vitajean, said it was difficult to satisfy the requirements and procedures set by import countries.

Vitajean has to provide transparent information about products, including fabric structure, chemical content, commitment to antibacterial properties of products, and antibacterial results.

Some businesspeople said it is also difficult to obtain Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certificate on cloth material sources to be eligible for exporting face masks to the US and EU. It takes enterprises many days to fulfill procedures for examination and assessment to obtain the certificates, especially when governments restrict people’s travel to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mzny enterprises want to shift to make face masks for export like Agtex 28 and Vitajean. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), 50 companies which have sent reports to the Ministry alone have production capacity of 8 million products a day, or 200 million a month.

However, as the director of a company saud, he has not received any reply from the partners he sent product samples to three weeks ago. The problem is European people mostly use medical masks, not cloth washable masks.

Linh Ha 

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