Dear CBI Members and Partners,
Kindly find some important updated information regarding the shipping of urgent medical equipment from China issued by HM Ambassador Barbara Woodward and her team at the British Embassy Beijing. There are two detailed documents attached below for your reference:
Download 20200416 Guidance for Exporting PPEMedical devices from China to the UK v2
Download A Quick Guide to Organising Charter Flights to China v2
Procurement
Procuring medical supplies is becoming ever more complex and should be approached with great caution. There is significant demand on the Chinese market for medical equipment, resulting in a number of intermediaries offering their services. European intermediaries rely on at least one Chinese intermediary on the mainland to negotiate directly with the manufacturers. Given current market instability, Chinese intermediaries are making commitments without any pre-existing product allocation. Although these commitments are made in good faith, some intermediaries find the stock they believed had been allocated to them has been sold to a different intermediary offering a higher price, more immediate payment or increasingly, access to in-demand raw material.
We advise caution in dealing with intermediaries: companies wishing to procure stock from China should conduct due diligence checks and preferably procure pre-existing stock. The British Embassy Beijing is prioritising procurement directly from manufacturers and large Chinese healthcare distributors.
Shipping
In the first instance if companies are trying to ship equipment to the UK the Embassy continues to recommend that they charter a flight. DHL is still working and other carriers, including Cathay Pacific, have offered cargo routes, and China’s Civil Aviation Authority has simplified and shortened the approval process. See attached guide to organising charter flights, which can be shared with companies.
In addition to chartering, flights companies may find helpful the attached guidance on exporting, which includes guidance notes on new regulation as well as an updated checklist of certification requirements required from the supplier. This will help in preventing customs issues arising at the airport.
As previously set out, if a company has a small package that is urgent, the Embassy can try to get it onto flights being chartered for urgent equipment for the NHS and DHSC. This will depend on available space and an understanding that HMG-procured equipment will take priority on these flights. In this case, please advise the company to contact DHSC (COVID19freight@dhsc.gov.uk). This route allows a single point of contact for handling and frees up Beijing staff to continue to speed up supply chains and delivery of urgent PPE (gowns in particular) and ventilators.
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