A manufacturer that supplies rubber gloves to the NHS has become the fourth such company from Malaysia to be banned by US customs in less than two years.
Supermax and its subsidiaries have been banned from importing products into America after allegations surfaced that it uses forced labour.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) said it now had “ample evidence” the company’s gloves were produced “in violation of US trade law” and will henceforth be banned.
This latest move follows action in July 2020, when the US CBP banned another Malaysian rubber glove manufacturer, the world’s market leader, Top Glove.
Although Top Glove has been allowed to resume selling to the US since 10 September, Supermax becomes the fourth of the country’s glove makers to be banned from the US market in the last 15 months.
In April, SM reported Top Glove had been cleared of having forced labour in its supply chains after the ban obliged it to contract an outside auditor.
Top Glove executive director Lim Cheong Guan has since said the company was maintaining good relationships with US customers and was the only rubber glove supplier that had been audited and thoroughly tested for forced labour.
Now, Supermax must also convince US authorities that its supply chains are free of labour abuses if it wishes to avoid having gloves seized on entry.
In a CBP statement, secretary of homeland security, Alejandro N Mayorkas, said: "With this Withhold Release Order, the Biden-Harris administration continues to make clear that products made in whole, or in part, by forced labour will not be allowed into the US.
"The Department of Homeland Security will continue to set an international standard for the elimination of the deplorable practice of forced labour. We will remove it from American supply chains.”
Profits have been soaring among Malaysia’s rubber glove manufacturers after they became leading suppliers of PPE to the world’s markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the sector has also been beset by allegations of the mistreatment of workers.
International migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall had previously filed a complaint with CBP, saying Malaysia was “one of the worst in the world” for forced labour.
Hall said the country’s migrant workers often took out loans and faced paying high fees to obtain Malaysian manufacturing jobs.
Repayment of these debts often leads to a form of bonded labour, while poor salaries and cramped conditions are often rife in the sector.
Supermax said efforts to improve labour conditions at its factories were well underway.
A Supermax statement said: “The company wishes to inform all its stakeholders that it is taking immediate and necessary steps to address the issue expeditiously.”
A manufacturer that supplies rubber gloves to the NHS has become the fourth such company from Malaysia to be banned by US customs in less than two years
Supermax and its subsidiaries have been banned from importing products into America after allegations surfaced that it uses forced labour.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) said it now had “ample evidence” the company’s gloves were produced “in violation of US trade law” and will henceforth be banned.
This latest move follows action in July 2020, when the US CBP banned another Malaysian rubber glove manufacturer, the world’s market leader, Top Glove.
Although Top Glove has been allowed to resume selling to the US since 10 September, Supermax becomes the fourth of the country’s glove makers to be banned from the US market in the last 15 months.
In April, SM reported Top Glove had been cleared of having forced labour in its supply chains after the ban obliged it to contract an outside auditor.
Top Glove executive director Lim Cheong Guan has since said the company was maintaining good relationships with US customers and was the only rubber glove supplier that had been audited and thoroughly tested for forced labour.
Now, Supermax must also convince US authorities that its supply chains are free of labour abuses if it wishes to avoid having gloves seized on entry.
In a CBP statement, secretary of homeland security, Alejandro N Mayorkas, said: "With this Withhold Release Order, the Biden-Harris administration continues to make clear that products made in whole, or in part, by forced labour will not be allowed into the US.
"The Department of Homeland Security will continue to set an international standard for the elimination of the deplorable practice of forced labour. We will remove it from American supply chains.”
Profits have been soaring among Malaysia’s rubber glove manufacturers after they became leading suppliers of PPE to the world’s markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the sector has also been beset by allegations of the mistreatment of workers.
International migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall had previously filed a complaint with CBP, saying Malaysia was “one of the worst in the world” for forced labour.
Hall said the country’s migrant workers often took out loans and faced paying high fees to obtain Malaysian manufacturing jobs.
Repayment of these debts often leads to a form of bonded labour, while poor salaries and cramped conditions are often rife in the sector.
Supermax said: “The company wishes to inform all its stakeholders that it is taking immediate and necessary steps to address the issue expeditiously.”