Margma committed towards zero indices of forced labour

KUCHING:TheMalaysianRubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) joined hands with The University of Nottingham Malaysia in supporting the Launch of a Project on “Enhancement of Manufacturing and Oil-Palm Third Party Audits Compliance and Due Diligence with Certification” officiated by Charles Hay, British High Commissioner to Malaysia.

The project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the UK to run from August 30, 2021 to January 2022, and is supported by Margma, Council for AntiTrafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants (MAPO), Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC), the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and the Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia.

Margma president Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam shared the industry’s support and commitment to the above said project in the hope of eradicating forced labour issues tainting the industry image.

“The rubber glove industry is dedicated to raise the bars of meeting social compliance and support the project objectives of providing training to internal industry and third-party auditors in understanding the dynamics of Trafficking In Person (TIP) and labour compliances related to International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“The rubber glove industry which exports to over 190 countries globally, currently undergo about 4 levels of audits including internal audits, customer-driven audits, independent third-party audits and government audits by MoHR. We also have an industry Code of Conduct and all its members have agreed to adopt the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit ( SMETA).

“The ESG unit within Margma has been counselling and educating members, via onsite visits and webinars, on the required compliances.

“As pointed out at the launch event, Margma is calling out to have a common yardstick and understanding on Social Compliances, amongst ILO, employees, employers, Malaysian Government and Source countries,” said Dr Supramaniam.

“We at Margma are committed to be the role model for sensitizing employers and the industry as a whole is already dedicated to ESG best practices.”