[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] CNTUS Sungjin announced on the 25th that it has posted an apology regarding the controversy caused by the administrative disposition of manufacturing suspension for masks.
On the same day, CNTUS Sungjin posted an apology on the company’s official website (http://www.cntus-sungjin.com) regarding the manufacturing suspension order received from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). The products subject to the manufacturing suspension are the 'Aereu Standard Light S Health Mask (KF80)' and the 'CS Health Mask (KF94) (Medium) (Navy, Beige, Ivory)'.
According to the company, the MFDS conducted special and surprise inspections in January to check the quality and safety of masks distributed in the market. The company submitted a 'test report' for the relevant products, but the MFDS could not verify whether the document was issued before the product’s 'manufacturing instruction date.' Because of this, the MFDS stated that "it is difficult to recognize the validity of the submitted document" and ordered additional testing.
CNTUS Sungjin requested a test report from the Korea Textile Inspection and Testing Institute (KOTITI) and confirmed that there were no issues with the product’s performance. Accordingly, the company received a three-month manufacturing suspension, which is a milder sanction than a sales restriction. The company stated, "Although there is no problem with the mask quality, we sincerely apologize for causing confusion among consumers in a situation sensitive to safety due to COVID-19," and added, "We will make every effort to ensure thorough product manufacturing and management to prevent any unfortunate incidents in the future."
Below is the full text of the apology posted by CNTUS Sungjin.
We will become CNTUS Sungjin that makes masks with utmost sincerity.
CNTUS Sungjin sincerely apologizes and explains the exact circumstances regarding the manufacturing suspension order for three months issued by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (hereinafter MFDS) on April 19 for the items 'Aereu Standard Light S Health Mask (KF80)' and 'CS Health Mask (KF94) (Medium) (Navy, Beige, Ivory)'.
The MFDS conducted special and surprise inspections in January this year to check the quality and safety of masks distributed in the market.
We submitted a 'test report' for the above products, but we failed to confirm that the test report in our possession was issued before the 'manufacturing instruction date' of the products. Accordingly, the MFDS explained that "it is difficult to recognize the validity of the submitted test report" and ordered us to resubmit test results from an accredited testing institution.
On February 24 of this year, we requested testing for the relevant products from KOTITI (Korea Textile Inspection and Testing Institute), and submitted the test report confirming compliance with the standard guidelines for 'particulate collection efficiency and inhalation resistance of the facepiece' to the MFDS.
The MFDS reviewed the test report we resubmitted and made a final judgment that "there is no problem with the quality of the products," and therefore issued a three-month manufacturing suspension instead of a sales suspension or product recall.
Although the quality and safety of the masks for the above-mentioned items were confirmed by tests from an accredited testing institution, we sincerely apologize for causing such an incident and confusion among consumers despite the sensitive safety situation due to COVID-19.
We take this matter seriously and have taken measures to prepare and manage all test reports before and after the release of all products to prevent recurrence. We are also making every effort to ensure thorough quality control of our products.
We bow our heads once again to apologize for disappointing and worrying the consumers who cherish ‘Aereu Masks.’ Taking this opportunity, CNTUS Sungjin will return to its original intention to provide ‘safer masks.’ Although it may be difficult for the hearts of consumers who were disappointed and hurt by ‘Aereu Masks’ to fully recover, we earnestly ask you to watch over the sincere efforts of all our executives and employees. We promise to make every effort in product manufacturing and management to prevent any unfortunate incidents in the future.
May 25, 2021.
All executives and employees of CNTUS Sungjin
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