KUALA LUMPUR – A shipment of 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves by Top Glove Corp Bhd has been seized by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Cleveland on indications of forced labour, reported Reuters.
The shipment is estimated to be worth US$518,000 (RM2.13 million) and CBP said the seizure was carried out due to information indicating they were made by forced labour.
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.
“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.
“CBP continues to facilitate the importation of legitimate PPE needed for the Covid-19 pandemic while ensuring that the PPE is authorised and safe for use.”
CBP said it issued a forced labour finding on March 29 based on evidence of 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.
In a statement to The Vibes today, 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.
In the statement, Top Glove reiterated that it will 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.”
Last Friday, the CBP said it has 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-making 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.
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 CBP was the second slap on Top Glove’s wrists after the US government agency issued a WRO 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.
In early April, 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, May 5, 2021
