PUTRAJAYA: The US Customs and Border Protection Department's withdrawal of its withhold release order (WRO) imposed on Supermax Corp Bhd and its three subsidiaries is the result of the company's continuous initiatives and enforcement measures by the Human Resources Ministry.
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Malaysia was very relieved that the company has been allowed to resume rubber glove exports to the US market effective Sept 18, and hoped that it would pave the way for more investments and allow Supermax to continue to contribute to the country's economic growth.
The WRO was imposed on Oct 21, 2021 based on evidence that 10 out of 11 indicators of forced labour practices, including illegal deduction of wages and non-conducive accommodation, were present in the company's operations. It was withdrawn due to improvements by the company to eradicate such elements.
The ministry added that the Peninsular Malaysia Labour Department had carried out a series of statutory inspections on the company to ensure compliance with labour laws in terms of salary payment, compliance with working hours that included overtime, service contracts and conducive accommodation.
"The inspections found that the employer had implemented a remediation plan involving 1,957 foreign workers amounting to RM25.67 million.
"The labour department also held several engagement sessions with the employer to discuss the improvement measures and future measures in dealing with this matter," the ministry said, adding that it remained committed to battling forced labour practices in Malaysia and would be uncompromising towards any violation of the laws by any entity in the country.