PPE is described in catalogs in terms that sound universal and are not. Filtration levels, fluid resistance and glove thickness are all measured by defined test methods, and different jurisdictions specify different methods for what appears to be the same property.

The consequence for an importer is that the description is not the specification. What matters is which standard the product was tested against, by whom, and whether that certification is recognised in the destination market.

This matters more than in most categories because the correction is not available. A mask certified against the wrong standard cannot be re-labelled into compliance, and a shipment that arrives against a standard the market does not accept is stock that cannot be sold there at all.

So the destination market belongs in the first enquiry, before samples are made and long before a container is booked. It is a question worth asking even when the buyer has not raised it, because the cost of asking late falls on both parties.