KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Supermax Corp Bhd plunged more than 10 per cent in early trade today after the US barred imports from the glove maker over alleged forced labour practices.
At 10.39am, Supermax plunged 10.22 per cent to RM2.03 from yesterday's close of RM2.25.
Supermax is the fourth Malaysian firm to face such a ban in the past 15 months.
According to reports, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) yesterday issued a withhold release order to prohibit imports from Supermax's wholly-owned subsidiaries from entering the country based on reasonable information of forced labour in the group's manufacturing operations.
The report quoted a statement by CBP as saying that with 10 of the 11 forced labour indicators identified during the course of its investigation, it had "ample evidence" to conclude that Supermax and its subsidiaries produce gloves in violation of US trade law.
"With this Withhold Release Order, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to make clear that products made in whole or in part by forced labour will not be allowed into the United States.
"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to set an international standard for the elimination of the deplorable practice of forced labour. We will remove it from American supply chains," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N Mayorkas said in a CBP statement.
In July 2020, Top Glove Corporation Bhd faced a similar ban by the CBP over forced labour allegations.
Top Glove, the world's leading glove manufacturer, has been permitted to resume exporting and selling gloves to the US effective September 10, following a revision to the CBP findings.
Another Malaysian glove manufacturer, WRP Asia Pacific, was also put on the CBP withhold release order in September 2019 after charges that its gloves were produced through forced labour.
The ban was lifted in March 2020 based on information obtained by CBP showing that the company was no longer producing its rubber gloves under forced labour conditions.
