US seizes shipment of Malaysian gloves over forced labour charges

FOR the second time in a week, customs of cials in the United States have seized a shipment of latex gloves from a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Top Glove over allegations of forced labour.

A statement released late on Wednesday by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the seizure was in response to a March 29 directive “to begin seizing disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by Top Glove Corporation Bhd.”

The order cited “evidence of multiple forced labour indicators” such as “debt bondage, excessive overtime, abusive working and living conditions, and retention of identity documents,” according to the statement. alued at almost 700,000 dollars, the consignment of almost 4.7 million gloves was en route to Kansas City.

“CBP will not tolerate forced labor in U.S. supply chains,” said Steven Ellis, Kansas City port director. On May 5, the CBP seized around half a million dollars worth of gloves made by a subsidiary of Top Glove, which describes itself as the world’s leading manufacturer of rubber gloves.

Top Glove said after last week’s seizure that it had “remediated the 11 International Labour Organization’s (ILO) forced labour indicators.” Malaysian factories produce around 60 percent of the world’s disposable gloves, including medical variants, for which demand has soared during the coronavirus pandemic.