In a statement posted on its website, the department of homeland security said effective Jan 28, US customs and border protection (CBP) officers and import specialists at all US ports of entry will detain disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by the YTY Group.
This includes products from its subsidiaries YTY Industry Sdn Bhd, Green Prospect Sdn Bhd and GP Lumut.
It said the CBP issued a withhold release order (WRO) against YTY Group based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labour in the group’s manufacturing operations.
“CBP has identified seven of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 11 indicators of forced labour in their operations during its investigation,” the department said.
Among them are abuse of vulnerability, deception, retention of identity documents, intimidation and threats, debt bondage, abusive working and living conditions, and excessive overtime.
When contacted, YTY Group told FMT it will issue a statement on the matter later today.
In the same statement, secretary of homeland security Alejandro N Mayorkas said the dedicated CBP workforce has again taken significant action to combat forced labour and protect the human rights of workers around the world.
“The actions are another important step towards ending these abhorrent practices.
“We will continue to leverage all of our authorities and resources to bar goods produced with forced labour from entering the US. We are leading efforts to ensure that no taxpayer dollars are ever used to purchase goods or services that rely on forced labour,” he said.
YTY Group is the sixth Malaysian glove-maker to be hit with the ban.
Besides YTY, the other glove-makers are the Brightway Group; Smart Glove; Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (Maxwell Glove Manufacturing Berhad and Supermax Glove Manufacturing); Top Glove Corporation Bhd, and WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd.
The ban on Top Glove and WRP Asia Pacific have since been removed.
YTY is also the eighth Malaysian company to be placed on the WRO list in three years.
Yesterday, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) expressed disappointment with the CBP for issuing a WRO on all products from the company and its subsidiaries after it obtained “sufficient information” that some of the company’s products were produced with forced or indentured labour.
The WRO effectively bans imports of SDP products into the US.