Top Glove on US detention order list likely over foreign labour issue

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has enforced a detention order on subsidiaries of the world’s largest medical glove maker, Top Glove Corp Bhd in a move intended to halt the importation of goods from companies suspected of using forced labour.

According to Reuters, the CBP website showed Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd were placed on its list on Wednesday but there was no statement explaining the action.

In a statement later, Top Glove confirmed the detention order and said it aimed to resolve the matter within two weeks by reaching out to the CBP, its customers and consultants.

"There is a possibility this may be related to foreign labour issues, which we have already resolved, save for one more issue with regard to retrospective payment of recruitment fees by our workers to agents prior to January 2019, without our knowledge," it said.

"However, Top Glove has already been bearing all recruitment fees since January 2019 when our Zero Recruitment Fee Policy was implemented.

"Over the past few months, we have been working on this issue which involves extensive tracing, to establish the correct amount to be paid back to our workers, on behalf of the previous agents," it added, estimating the total unpaid amount to be around RM20 million to RM50 million.

Global ethical trade association Amfori previously said Top Glove cannot cite the good rating it had obtained for one of its factories as proof that it has met international standards of labour practices.

Amfori was at the time responding to enquiries by the Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) following a UK Channel 4 exposé last month on alleged labour exploitation at Top Glove factories.

Since May, Malaysiakini had also exposed alleged attempts by Top Glove to unethically skirt around labour laws, including for its scheme launched to back surging demands for rubber gloves amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The US CPB had in October last year banned the import of rubber gloves produced by another Malaysian producer - WRP Asia - over similar concerns surrounding the management of its foreign workers.

The ban was lifted in March amid a shortage due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it was reported earlier this month that the glovemaker had begun reimbursing workers for their recruitment fees.

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