According to reports, the US Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) claims that certain products by Malaysian glovemaker Top Glove Corp Bhd had been manufactured with the use of “forced or indentured labour”, adding that these disposable gloves are being, or are likely to be, imported into the US. Citing Section 307 of the Tariff Act 1930, the US CBP said goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labour and/or forced labour under penal sanctions shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the US, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited.
In July last year, the US CBP had issued a withhold release order on Top Gloves’s disposable gloves that are indicated to be manufactured by forced labour in Malaysia. Meantime, Top Glove executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said the group was working to solve the issue. Top Glove also appointed a consultant to verify corrective action plans it implemented to eliminate the presence of forced labour indicators from its practices. As of January, the consultant reportedly found no systemic forced labour within the group.