KUALA LUMPUR – The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says it has yet to verify Top Glove Corp Bhd’s statement on the resolution of all 11 International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicators on forced labour.
The verification by the US agency must be carried out before the withhold release order (WRO) can be lifted on the company.
In a statement to The Vibes today, Top Glove reaffirmed that the company has resolved the 11 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 the CBP through this process, towards the expeditious resolution and revocation of the withhold release order (WRO). The company is hopeful that the WRO will be lifted/modified,” it said.
However, the CBP said there is still work to do before the WRO can be lifted, reported Free Malaysia Today.
An agency spokesman was quoted as saying, “it continues to evaluate information submitted by Top Glove in support of its petition to modify last month’s forced labour finding, which saw the seizure of its disposable gloves at all US ports of entry.
“CBP independently verifies all information submitted in support of petitions to modify or revoke withhold release orders and forced labour findings,” the spokesman said in an email.
“CBP will not modify or revoke a withhold release order or forced labour finding until all indicators of forced labour identified by the agency have been fully remediated.”
It was also reported that the CBP said social compliance audits can be “very useful” if they are done independently and with the aim of identifying gaps and vulnerabilities, but access to facilities, records and employees, without the interference of supervisory personnel, is important to ensure an accurate assessment of whether forced labour indicators still exist.
“Unannounced third-party audits can provide important evidence in support of petitions to modify or revoke withhold release orders or forced labour findings,” the email said.
“However, CBP reviews the totality of available information when evaluating such a petition.”
Following sanctions on Top Glove, the CBP had instructed the glove-making giant to carry out additional rectification and verification work on some of the agency’s findings.
The two areas highlight 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.
Last month, 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.
CBP will not modify or revoke a withhold release order or forced labour finding until all indicators of forced labour identified by the agency have been fully remediated.
In a notice published on March 29, the US agency stated that certain disposable gloves had been “mined, produced or manufactured in Malaysia by Top Glove Corp Bhd with the use of convict, forced or indentured labour, and are being, or are likely to be, imported into the US”.
Citing Section 307 of the Tariff Act 1930, which states that products produced using these kinds of labour shall not be entitled entry at any US ports, the findings by the CBP applies to any merchandise described in Section II of the notice that is imported on or after March 29.
“It also applies to merchandise that has already been imported and has not been released from CBP custody before March 29, 2021.”
The latest action by the CBP was the second slap on Top Glove’s wrists after the US government agency issued a withhold release order on disposable gloves indicated to be manufactured by forced labour in the country by the rubber glove giant on July 15, last year.
“Through its investigation, the CBP has determined that there is sufficient information to support a finding that Top Glove is manufacturing disposable gloves with forced labour, and that such merchandise is likely being imported into the US,” it had said.
Earlier this month, Top Glove had stated that an independent consultant had found no systemic forced labour within the group as of January this year.
The consultant was appointed to verify corrective action plans that Top Glove implemented to eliminate the presence of forced labour indicators from its practices, the group had said. – The Vibes, April 30, 2021
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