ITL logistics company said two charter flights have transported 30 million made-in-Vietnam medical masks to the United States, VnExpress reported.

The first flight took off from Hanoi on June 3 and transited in Hong Kong before arriving in North America. The second flight made the same route and arrived in North America early in the morning of June 6.

A package of medical masks is loaded on AirBridge Cargo Airlines aircraft. Photo: ITL

ITL quoted a major medical mask manufacturer in Vietnam as saying that the US government is in need of 3 billion standardized masks and Vietnam is among the main suppliers.

An ITL representative said the potential for exporting essential commodities in the pandemic time such as medical masks and personal protective equipment which are made in Vietnam is considered huge as the demand of North American countries continues to rise.

In May, ITL also shipped 1.5 million personal protective equipment to New York to meet the local residents’ and health workers’ demand in the fight Covid-19.

President Donald Trump thanks "friends in Vietnam" for facilitating the delivery.

Sources from the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that export turnover from face masks and personal protective equipment increased sharply, raising concerns of uncontrolled quality and putting reputation of Vietnam's medical equipment exports at risks.

The ministry has recommended businesses be careful when working with companies in the fields of consulting, testing and giving certification of standards, conformity assessment, especially businesses seeking CE certification for export to the EU and FDA certification for export to the US.

Earlier, on April 29, Vietnam donated over 250,000 antibacterial face masks and other medical supplies to the US.

In mid-April, the Vietnamese government donated 200,000 cloth masks to the US government and people. In addition, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made another donation of 50,000 medical masks for the White House Office.

The US is the worst pandemic hit country with over 1.84 million Covid-19 cases and more than 106,000 deaths so far.

In response, Ambassador Kritenbrink said the gift was a tremendous show of solidarity and support from Vietnam for his country, and pledged that the US would enhance collaboration with the Vietnamese side in dealing with the pandemic and in ensuring public health and safety.