On March 24th, WHO estimated over 370,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 from 189 countries, with 16,231 fatalities reported. As the spread of the epidemic caused a serious shortage of personal protective equipment and medical supplies in many European countries, Chinese members of the TIC Council announced to offer free pre-shipment inspection services to help governments and NGOs of the most affected countries to source medical supplies from China.

Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) Council is an international organization established in December 2018, born from the merger of formal global TIC industry organizations IFIA and CEOC. As the voice of global independent testing, inspection and certification industry, TIC Council advocates for effective solutions to protect the public, support innovation and facilitate trade. The organization works with its members to promote best practices in safety, quality, healthy ethics, and sustainability. Amongst the 90 member companies and organizations, many have been operating in the Chinese market for decades, such as SGS, TÜV Rheinland, Bureau Veritas, UL, DEKRA and Intertek.

In recent months, the TIC Council members in China have made a huge effort to help local government, hospitals, and companies source and ensure the quality compliance of medical supplies such as protective masks and suits. Some members also received support from their overseas certification bodies for medical devices, with the workload having accumulated during the past few months. The motion of offering free of charge pre-shipment inspection services and sourcing support to countries severely hit by the outbreak was passed with unanimous support. Mr. Steven Du, President of SGS China and member of the TIC Council China Steering Committee said “China received lots of overseas donations during our difficult time in the past. As a reciprocation, the Chinese TIC industry would like to extend our support to countries in need and help them fight against the virus”.

The TIC Council is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and has branches in Washington D.C., India and China. Interested governments and NGOs of concerned countries may reach us via our website and social media channels or send emails to fanny.wang@sgs.com and lili.zhang@bureauveritas.com for inquiries.