US Customs seizes Top Glove shipment following forced labour finding
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a shipment of 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves from Malaysia's Top Glove Corp Bhd estimated to be worth US$518,000 on indications they were made by forced labour, it said Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.
CBP had earlier on March 29 issued a forced labour finding based on evidence of multiple forced labour indicators in the world's largest medical glove maker's production process in Malaysia.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a shipment of 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves from Malaysia's Top Glove Corp Bhd estimated to be worth US$518,000 on indications they were made by forced labour, it said Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.
CBP had earlier on March 29 issued a forced labour finding based on evidence of multiple forced labour indicators in the world's largest medical glove maker's production process in Malaysia.
It had initially banned products from two of Top Glove's subsidiaries last July but extended the ban to all of the manufacturer's products made in Malaysia in March.
The indicators included debt bondage, excessive overtime, abusive working and living conditions and retention of identity documents, the CBP said in a statement.
The agency then directed personnel at all US ports of entry to begin seizing disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by the glove maker.
"CBP continues to facilitate the importation of legitimate PPE needed for the Covid-19 pandemic while ensuring that the PPE are authorised and safe for use," Diann Rodriguez, Area Port Director-Cleveland, referring to personal protective equipment.
Top Glove had admitted last month that its glove production had been affected by the US ban but announced last week it had resolved all the indicators of forced labour in its operations, citing a report by the ethical trade consultancy it hired.
The independent international UK consultant, Impactt Ltd, had in its report dated April 22, 2021, verified that Top Glove had resolved the 11 International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicators of forced labour.
In reference to today's report, which Top Glove confirmed was its container to Cleveland Port, Ohio, the company announced that it would continue to work closely with the CBP towards the expeditious resolution and revocation/modification of the withhold release order (WRO)/finding.
"The CBP is currently reviewing our submission on the back of the company having remediated the 11 International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) forced labour indicators," it said in a brief statement today.
