The U.S.A has banned imports of surgical gloves from two subsidiaries of the world’s largest glove manufacturer, citing forced labour concerns.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) placed the ban on the Malaysian manufacturer Top Glove “based on reasonable evidence of forced labour in the manufacturing process,”.
The concerns included excessive overtime, debt bondage and abusive working and living conditions, as well as the withholding of identification documents, CBP said in a statement.
Countries throughout the world have attempted to stock up on personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, hand sanitizer and gloves since the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year.