Due to the Covid emergency, the need for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and for face masks in particular has significantly increased.
As is well known, since masks are difficult to find on the market at present they have become one of the most in demand products.
Due to their limited availability their price has increased and their production has turned into an attractive business opportunity.
The Italian government has intervened in order to guarantee the supply of face masks first of all to healthcare providers.
This is why article 6 of Law Decree no. 18 dated 17 March 2020 has provided that the Head of the Protezione Civile may requisition – also upon the Special Commissioner’s request – the health care products and the medical-surgical aids needed to deal with the emergency both from private and public operators.
In light of the above the Special Commissioner for the emergency has implemented restrictive measures on imports.
In particular, Customs procedures have been simplified if the medical supplies are meant to be used by specific categories of users.
However, if they are intended for private persons or in any case for anyone who is not included in the list of the preferred consignees, the Italian Customs Agency must inform the authorities of the arrival of the medical supplies in order to allow the State, if necessary, to requisition the supplies upon payment of an indemnity to the importer.
Therefore, the requisition of medical supplies by the State is at present certainly lawful when the supplies are not intended for specific operators, e.g. regions, local and public entities and in general all providers of essential public services.
Our Firm has dealt with some cases which have originated disputes related to requisitions by the State since the current regulatory framework does not always allow to precisely determine the consignees which can be considered providers of essential public services.
