We have important news about the leading Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturer Supermax, which has been hit by a US customs order preventing its products from entering the American market on forced labour grounds.
The Story
During the Covid-19 pandemic Supermax has supplied the key PPE item, latex gloves, around the world.
Their record-breaking sales over the last year have been accompanied by serious scrutiny over their poor labour practices – specifically the treatment of tens of thousands of low-paid migrant workers.
These workers, mostly hailing from Nepal and Bangladesh, paid extortionate fees for their jobs, where they are forced to work to repay their debts. This is a form of bonded labour. [1]
Linked Companies
The US order prohibits imports from these three subsidiaries that are wholly owned by Supermax:
· Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd
· Maxwell Glove Manufacturing Bhd
· Supermax Glove Manufacturing [2]
Our research indicates that the following companies have received shipments from Supermax (or one of its subsidiaries) in the previous three years:
· BFI Products, Inc
· Ambiderm SA de CV [3]
In the UK Supermax trades through its subsidiaries Supermax Healthcare Ltd (UK) and Supermax Healthcare (Europe) Ltd. Supermax gloves are supplied under a variety of brand names, including Aurelia. Companies currently offering Aurelia gloves for sale in the UK include:
· Galleon Supplies Ltd [4]
· Medisave UK Ltd [5]
· Health and Care (UK) Ltd (trading as WorkGloves)[6]
Action
PPE carries a high modern slavery risk. Malaysia’s latex sector, producer of most of the world’s rubber gloves, has systemic modern slavery issues. We also consider Chinese manufactured PPE to be high-risk and identified specific manufactures of concern in our previous article.
We strongly encourage companies to search their supply chains for these organisations. All PPE should be treated as having a high modern slavery risk and prioritised for assessment as part of your company’s modern slavery due diligence.
References
[2] Import Genius
[3] Withhold Release order and Findings List
[5] Medisave
[6] WorkSafe
