By visibly showing compliance with the requirements, producers, importers, retailers and corporate buyers can offer distinctive quality among an overwhelming supply to the market. Kiwa is one of the first certification institutes that can fully support certification according to the new certification scheme.

Clarity for consumers

Wearing a face mask in indoor public areas is mandatory in The Netherlands from the first of December, 2020. However, the public face mask is a relatively consumer product that was already massively sold before the legal obligation. Due to the lack of a quality standard, these face masks were offered in various qualities, ranging from good to very poor of even harmful. Using a face mask with the NEN-label, consumers can trust that the product complies with controlled quality requirements.

More information on the testing of medical face masks: EN 14683.

NEN-spec 1-2

NEN- spec 1-2 clearly describes the requirements for good quality public face masks. An effective certification scheme guarantees that all certifying institutes and laboratories will assess and test these requirements in the same way. A crucial demand is that certificating institutes should be able to access the production facility and take samples by themselves. After solving specified issues and validation of compliance to all requirements, a certificate will be issued based on which the producer can provide the face masks with the NEN-label.

The quality controls include breathing resistance test, a panel test for wearing comfort, a flammability test and the evaluation of chemical reports and bacterial filter efficiency.

Broad expertise

The scheme has been developed by experts from companies and institutions across the entire value chain. The participants in this scheme are: Textile Trade organisation Modint, Maastricht University/Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials, Kiwa Nederland B.V., Chargeurs PCC, ISKO Vital, Little Concepts, Précon Group, Telecom Lifestyle Fashion B.V./Airpop and Toppoint. Together, these experts succeeded in publishing a workable scheme in a short amount of time. Kiwa Nederland B.V. was the only CI that was involved in the realisation

More information

Need more information on certification of face masks for public use (NEN- spec 1-2)? Please contact us at +31 (0)88 - 998 32 57 or kindly fill out the contact form.