Per an order issued on July 23rd, 2020, the French government has defined the list of personal protective clothing eligible for the reduced VAT rate of 5.5%, which had originally been applied since April 25th, 2020 to masks and protective equipment, as well as products intended for personal hygiene.

Article 30-0 G Annex IV of the CGI lists the personal protective clothing benefiting from the 5.5% VAT rate:

Definition of personal protective clothing - Article 30-0 G

(you can read the original article on legifrance.gouv.fr)

Personal protective clothing includes:

Protective goggles and visors (and interchangeable components) including:

• products (defined by standard EN 166: 2001) that have passed appropriate standards (mark 3) during liquid projection tests;
• visors, with the following adaptations:
  • Specifications for resistance to aging, corrosion and ignition are not required;
  • The optical class is minimum 2;
  • The marking and the information provided by the manufacturer indicate a limited application for protection against covid-19;
• products defined by a foreign standard recognized as equivalent to the standard mentioned in a of 1 °;

Medical devices, which are listed below:

• Medical examination gloves falling under class I and surgical gloves falling under class IIa;
• Class I gowns, blouses, labcoats and aprons;
• Mob caps and overshoes falling under class I.