India has put a halt on use of faulty Chinese test kits after states raised doubts on its efficacy. China contended that the kits were tested and criticized India for not using it properly. Raising suspicion over China’s comments is the fact that Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, etc. had also sent back faulty test kits. Complete Coverage: Coronavirus
Crux of the Matter
Faulty Chinese Kits Everywhere Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) issued a statement to halt the use of test kits ordered from China as they were inaccurate. Their accuracy ranged from 6% to 71% among states. This move came after various states raised doubts over the efficacy of the kits. This has become a hindrance to India in achieving testing targets.
Any operation which is not carried out by professionals in accordance with the product specifications will lead to the testing accuracy variations. Ji Rong, Chinese embassy spokesperson
Wondfo and Livzon were two Chinese companies from which the kits were ordered. China said that it was disappointed with ICMR’s decision and hoped to resolve it reasonably and properly. It said that the kits were first approved by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV). Nations like Italy, Spain and Czech Republic had also returned faulty Chinese test kits.
ICMR’s Reply to Experts Questions
A Case Reaches Delhi HC ICMR had placed an order for 5 lakh kits at ₹600, the price which was lowest among the quotations. 2.76 lakh kits had been delivered to it by Rare Metabolics and the rest were to be delivered. However, ICMR has now announced a halt in the use of those test kits.
Supply Chain Wondfo (China) exported kits to Matrix labs (India) at ₹245 Matrix labs sold to Rare Metabolics at ₹400 Rare Metabolics supplied to ICMR at ₹600
Rare Metabolics reached Delhi Court and filed a petition against Matrix labs for releasing the remaining 2.24 lakh kits. However, Matrix demanded full payment as the agreement between them said that amount was to be first paid to the importer (to Matrix). ICMR, who received kits from Rare Metabolics said that they will pay Rare only when kits meet its standards.
Delhi HC Verdict Delhi HC said that 2.24 lakhs will be delivered to ICMR and Rare will make payment to Matrix within 24 hours of receiving payment from ICMR. Delhi HC also put a ceiling on the profit margin of test kits at 61%. This revises the final price of the test kit to ₹400.
Curiopedia
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In the last week of March 2020, the government of Netherlands recalled 6,00,000 N95 face protective masks which it ordered from China. The reason behind the recall was low-quality.
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