KUALA LUMPUR – Some 4.68 million latex gloves worth US$690,000 (RM2.85 million) in a shipment by a Top Glove Corp Bhd subsidiary has been seized by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in the port of Kansas City, Missouri.
The seizure came due to information indicating that the gloves were made by forced labour, a form of modern slavery, said US CBP in a statement.
“The shipment in Kansas City was seized after an inspection by CBP officers revealed that the gloves were produced in Malaysia by a subsidiary of Top Glove (Corp Bhd). The estimated value of the shipment was US$690,000.
“Considering this seizure took place in the heartland of America, it goes to show that imports produced by forced labour affect everyone nationwide,” said Steven Ellis, Port Director-Kansas City.
“CBP will not tolerate forced labor in US supply chains.”
On March 29, CBP directed personnel at all US ports of entry to begin seizing disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by Top Glove Corp Bhd.
CBP issued a forced labour finding on March 29 based on evidence from multiple forced labour indicators in Top Glove’s production process, including debt bondage, excessive overtime, abusive working and living conditions, and retention of identity documents.
This is the second seizure by US authorities against the world’s leading glovemaker this month, after the US CBP seized a shipment of Top Glove’s 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves in Cleveland on May 5.
The shipment was estimated at US$518,000 (RM2.13 million) and CBP said the seizure was carried out due to information indicating they were made by forced labour.
“The shipment in Cleveland was seized after an inspection by CBP officers revealed that the gloves were produced in Malaysia by a subsidiary of Top Glove. The estimated value of the shipment was US$518,000.
“This seizure sends a strong message that CBP will not tolerate imports made by forced labour, which is a form of modern slavery that hurts vulnerable workers and threatens our economy,” said Diann Rodriguez, area port director for Cleveland, in a statement.
In a statement to The Vibes on the same day, Top Glove reaffirmed that the company has resolved the 11 International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicators of forced labour, as verified by independent international UK consultant Impactt Limited (Impactt), as per an earlier statement on April 26.
“While the verification by Impactt indicates that we are on the right path in this area, we understand that the US CBP is presently working to review our submission.
“Accordingly, we also reaffirm our commitment to liaise closely with CBP through this process, towards the expeditious resolution and revocation of the WRO (withhold release order). The company is hopeful that the WRO will be lifted/modified,” it said.
Top Glove reiterated that it would continue to work closely with the US CBP “towards the expeditious resolution and revocation or modification of the withhold release order”.
“The company’s resolution of the 11 ILO indicators of forced labour had earlier been verified by independent international UK consultant, Impactt Ltd, in its report dated April 22.”
On April 30, the CBP said it had yet to verify Top Glove’s statement on the resolution of all 11 ILO indicators on forced labour.
The verification by the US agency must be carried out before the WRO can be lifted on the company.
Following sanctions on Top Glove, the CBP had instructed the glove giant to carry out additional rectification and verification work on some of the agency’s findings.
The two areas highlighted by the US CBP are:
– Identity documents retained by recruitment agents to be returned to the workers, which affects less than 1% of its workers, and;
– Remediation for workers who did not manage to come to Malaysia to work due to Covid-19 related lockdowns.
In March, shipments of certain rubber-based products by Top Glove were seized by the US after its CBP announced it had found that certain products by the glove-maker were manufactured with the use of convict, forced or indentured labour. – The Vibes, May 13, 2021
