France Caps Price of Surgical Masks at 95 Cents Ahead of Reopening

Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy, made this announcement, which constitutes a turnaround for the French government. "I have made two decisions. The first is to cap the price of single-use paper masks of the surgical type, which cannot exceed 95 cents per mask," she said on RTL on Friday, May 1.

"The price of surgical masks that will be sold in stores as part of the deconfinement will therefore be capped at 95 cents per unit (or 47.50 euros per box of 50 masks)," the cabinet of the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy specifies in a press release.

According to the cabinet, this is a ceiling price that the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) will monitor to ensure that it is not exceeded. "In this sense, the DGCCRF will launch several investigations in the coming days, nationwide and on the internet, to guarantee everyone access to quality masks at reasonable prices," the statement continues, also announcing that the price of fabric masks will not be regulated.

The French government has thus backtracked on its decision not to regulate the prices of masks sold to the general public in order "not to curb innovation." By making this U-turn, France is following in the footsteps of Morocco, which had already capped the price of masks a few weeks ago, setting the unit at 8 DH only.