Impactt has been working with Top Glove, a Malaysia-based disposable glove manufacturer, to remediate forced labour in its operations. We are delighted that on 10 September 2021, this work gave US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sufficient confidence to modify its import ban on Top Glove’s disposable gloves manufactured in Malaysia due to forced labour concerns.
The original CBP Withhold Release Order (WRO) was implemented on 15 July 2020 and was merged into the CBP Finding subsequently issued on 29 March 2021.
Impactt worked with Top Glove over the last 13 months with the shared goal of ensuring that workers at its sites are free from systemic forced labour. In January 2021, Impactt was able to verify no systemic indicators of forced labour were present within Top Glove’s operations. To this end, Top Glove made the important decision to provide remediation payments of over $36 million (USD) to over 12,000 current and previously employed migrant workers who had paid recruitment fees and related costs to recruitment agents.
Remediation payments to affected workers were completed in April 2021 and were informed by Impactt’s Principles and Standards for Repayment. Top Glove also worked diligently to improve the accommodation provided to their employees, both migrant and local. As part of a comprehensive remediation strategy, Impactt also supported Top Glove with the implementation of an independent worker helpline to encourage consistency, transparency, and fairness in the handling of workplace problems and complaints, which has now been running for 13 months.
