KUALA LUMPUR – Shipments of certain rubber-based products by Top Glove Corp Bhd will be seized by the United States authorities after its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency announced it had found that certain products by the glovemaker were manufactured with the use of convict, forced or indentured labour.
In a notice published today, 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, 2021.
“It also applies to merchandise that has already been imported and has not been released from CBP custody before March 29, 2021.”
Top Glove sources confirmed that all its planned shipments to the US are currently on hold.
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.
Based on this, the agency said the port director may seize the covered merchandise for violation of the Tariff Act, and commence forfeiture proceedings, unless the importer establishes by satisfactory evidence that the merchandise was not produced in any part with the use of prohibited labour.
In December last year, group managing director Lee Kim Meow was reported to have said the company has been actively engaging with CBP to reverse the earlier import ban.
Earlier this month, Top Glove had stated that an independent consultant had found no systemic forced labour within the group as of January.
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.
Independent migrant worker specialist Andy Hall, meanwhile, welcomed today’s announcement by the CBP.
“There have been some positive yet still incomplete efforts to remediate systemic forced labour and repay some of the exorbitant recruitment fees paid by workers in Top Glove’s factories across Malaysia.
“However, Top Glove remains an unethical company whose factories and supply chain continue to utilise forced labour and that prioritises profits, production efficiency and quality over the welfare and basic rights of its 20,000 plus workers,” he said in a statement.
Top Glove’s investors, he said, urgently need to be held to account as they are the company’s owners and investors, and have profited most.
“Today’s decision by the CBP should also be a wake-up call to the rest of Malaysia’s exploitative rubber glove industry, other foreign labour-intensive export industries in Malaysia and to the Malaysian government and buyers of goods from Malaysia that much more needs to be done to combat the systemic forced labour of foreign workers that remains endemic in factories across Malaysia.” – The Vibes, March 29, 2021
