Company fined $8,000 for making over 400,000 masks without a license
After a mask manufacturer was featured on a television show, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) investigated the company and found that it did not have a license to make masks.
First N-Lab was found to have manufactured at least 431,480 masks without a license and was fined $8,000 in court on Sept 23.
The company, which was represented by its director, Goh Hong Meng, in court, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health Products Act.
It could have been fined up to $100,000.
HSA prosecutor Vishnu Aditya Naidu told the court that First N-Lab was incorporated on April 6, 2020, and had bought a mask manufacturing machine from China to make masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
HSA’s medical devices branch became aware of First N-Lab after it was featured on Channel 8 on or about May 18, 2021.
A search of its website revealed that it was advertising that the masks were made in Singapore and had a bacterial filtration efficiency of 99 percent.
First N-Lab also advertised its masks on various other online platforms, including Shopee, Qoo10 and Instagram.
The medical devices branch learned that the company did not have a license to make masks and notified HSA’s enforcement branch after the company failed to provide any substantial response and its directors passed on HSA queries to one another.
During an inspection of First N-Lab’s premises on June 9, 2021, HSA officers found that it was fully air-conditioned and well kept, and its operators wore uniforms with masks and gloves.
It was also mandatory for staff to enter an air shower room before entering the production area.
A total of 323,870 masks were seized during the inspection.
“Further investigations seemed to suggest that there was a possible misunderstanding among the directors of the accused company as to who was responsible for applying for the manufacturer’s license, as opposed to a concerted decision on their part in not applying for the requisite license,” said the prosecution.
The company had made masks without a license from October 2020 to April 2021, and sold 107,610 masks for $14,492.90 between Nov 30, 2020, and May 24, 2021.
It had also donated an unverified number of boxes of masks.
First N-Lab eventually applied to HSA for the requisite license and got it on Sept 22, 2021.