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US to seize gloves made by Malaysian firm over forced labour
Top Glove's profits and stock price surged last year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as Covid-19 spread.
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Funeral assistant, Bradley Georges, 26 wears gloves as he works wearing a PPE kit prior to a funeral at one of Miami's largest funeral homes, Van Orsdel funeral homes in Miami, on July 17, 2020. (AFP/Chandan Kanna)
T
he United States will seize products made by Malaysia's Top Glove after concluding the firm uses forced labor, officials said, dealing a fresh blow to the world's biggest surgical glove maker.
Top Glove's profits and stock price surged last year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as Covid-19 spread.
But the firm, which can produce over 96 billion gloves a year, has been rocked by a series of scandals, including a virus outbreak in dormitories that infected thousands of migrant workers.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had already banned gloves from two of Top Glove's subsidiaries last year after saying it suspected the company was committing labor abuses.
It went a step further on Monday, announcing it had "sufficient information" to conclude that Top Glove uses forced labor. The federal agency said it would seize any gloves manufactured by the firm at US ports of entry.
"CBP will not tolerate foreign companies' exploitation of vulnerable workers to sell cheap, unethically-made goods to American consumers," said Troy Miller, a CBP senior official.
The agency said the move would not have a significant impact on US imports of disposable gloves, vital for combatting the devastating US virus outbreak.
Top Glove's shares were down over five percent following the news.
Announcing the initial ban last year, CBP said it believed there was evidence of debt bondage, excessive overtime, and abusive working and living conditions in Top Glove's production processes.
The company could not be reached for immediate comment.
Many of the company's workers are low-paid migrants from South Asia, who are typically housed in dormitories where dozens of men share a room and sleep on bunk beds.
Last year's Covid-19 outbreak infected about 5,000 Top Glove workers -- a quarter of the company's workforce -- and led to the temporary closure of over half of its factories in Malaysia.
Earlier in March, Top Glove was charged by Malaysian authorities with providing poor housing for its workers, and faces hefty fines if convicted.
The company has insisted it is improving its employees' accommodation by making substantial investments and building new dormitories.
