TOP Glove Corp Bhd is reaching out to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding the detention order placed on its products.
Issued on July 15, the order is on disposable gloves manufactured by Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd.
“We are reaching out to the CBP through our office in the US to understand the issue better and work towards a speedy resolution of the matter, within an estimated two weeks,” said the company.
Top Glove noted that there is a possibility the order may be related to foreign labour issues, which the company had already resolved, except for one more issue regarding retrospective payment of recruitment fees by staff to agents prior to 2019 without the company’s knowledge.
“However, Top Glove has already been bearing all recruitment fees since January 2019 when our Zero Recruitment Fee Policy was implemented,” clarified the company.
Top Glove said it has been working over the past few months on this issue, which involves extensive tracing, to establish the correct amount to be paid back to its workers on behalf of the previous agents.
“We estimate the total amount to be about RM20 mil to RM50 mil. We believe it is in the best interests of all parties to come to a solution expeditiously so that our disposable gloves can reach the parties that need it the most during this time of Covid-19,” the company said, promising updates as the situation develops.
At 3pm, Top Glove’s shares were last done at RM21.24, down 56 sen, with 25.7 million shares traded. – July 16, 2020
