The Council of State has annulled a contract awarded in 2020 by the Defence Department to the Luxembourg-based company Avrox for the purchase of 15 million face masks, according to a report by Le Soir on Wednesday.
During the Coronavirus crisis, the Defence Department had issued a tender for a large quantity of face masks to be distributed to the Belgian population through pharmacies. A total of 18 million cloth face masks were ordered, with Avrox tasked to deliver 15 million of them.
However, in February 2021, it emerged that these face masks might be harmful to health as they contained nanoparticles of silver and titanium dioxide, so the government advised against using them.
Several companies that had bid for the contract but were unsuccessful took their case to the Council of State.
The Council has now ruled in favour of the company Anti-Chute from Hainaut, which had argued that its bid was unfairly rejected.
Defence had dismissed its bid for not meeting the tender conditions, specifically for lacking proof of previous delivery of at least 250,000 face masks. However, the tender had not required such proof.
This decision by the Council of State opens the door for potential compensation claims.
