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

[1] The Financial Times - 'NHS rubber glove supplier banned by US for alleged forced labour' - 21/10/2021

[2] Import Genius

[3] Withhold Release order and Findings List

[4]Galleon Supplies

[5] Medisave

[6] WorkSafe