KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) says the latest reports by a few media on the ban of Malaysian rubber gloves by the US are factually inaccurate and misleading.
Margma said only gloves from one specific local company was banned and not Malaysian rubber gloves, as a whole.
“The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has deemed that a particular company to be involved in forced labour and has since banned that company's goods from entering the US,” Margma said in a statement today.
“The US Customs and Border Protection Detention Orders issued against five companies from five countries suspected of using forced labour dated October 1 2019 is as published at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-issues-detention....
“The statement has clearly stated that only one rubber glove company is affected in Malaysia and hence the detention order,” it added.
Previously, the Human Resources Ministry had announced in January that the government would take WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd to court for withholding the salaries of its workers from Bangladesh and Nepal, which triggered a strike by 2,000 staff.
The issue first came to light in early December last year when UK-based The Guardian reported that thousands of Nepalese and Bangladeshi workers were allegedly indentured at Malaysian rubber glove factories with forced overtime, debt bondage, withheld wages and passport confiscation.
Meanwhile, Margma said the industry had since last year work on SocialCompliance initiatives to continuously improve the welfare of the employees in the rubber glove industry.
“We have formed a Social Compliance Committee and organised national seminar under the purview of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC).
“There is a lot of compliance to be done and there is a lot of work to be carried out to ensure worker's rights, accommodation and general welfare is protected,” it added.