Top Glove working to resolve US sanction, Azmin says

Senior Minister cum International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the company is currently engaging with US authorities after the US Customs placed Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd on its Withhold Release Order list; a move taken against firms suspected of using forced labour.

MELAKA: The world’s biggest rubber glove manufacturer, Top Glove Corp Bhd is working to address the detention order imposed by the United States (US) Customs on imports from two of its subsidiaries to ensure undisrupted supply of rubber gloves supply amidst the global COVID-19 crisis.

Senior Minister cum International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the company is currently engaging with US authorities after the US Customs placed Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd on its Withhold Release Order list; a move taken against firms suspected of using forced labour.

He said the ministry hopes that the US administration would be able to assess the issue involving the foreign workers fairly.

"I have been informed that the company is currently engaging with the US Customs to address the assumptions and allegations levelled against it.

"This has happened before, and once the explanation was given to the US administration, they had lifted the ban and allowed the goods to enter the US," he told reporters here on Saturday.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, Top Glove said there was a possibility that the US sanction might be related to foreign labour issues, which the company had already resolved except for an issue regarding retrospective payment of recruitment fees by its workers to agents prior to January 2019 without the company's knowledge.

However, the company said it had already borne all recruitment fees since January 2019 when its Zero Recruitment Fee Policy was implemented.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Azmin said the government expects the manufacturing of rubber gloves and other medical products in the country to continue undisrupted post-COVID-19 to meet the high global demand.

Earlier, the minister had visited two factories, Dominant Opto Technologies Sdn Bhd and Texas Instruments Electronics Sdn Bhd at the Batu Berendam Free Trade Zone, accompanied by International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister, Datuk Lim Ban Hong. - Bernama