The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Will No Longer Detain Certain Malaysian Disposable Gloves Previously Subject to Withhold Release Order

On Oct. 11, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) modified its 2021 Withhold Release Order (“WRO”) against disposable gloves produced, wholly or in part, with forced labor in Malaysia by Brighthway Holdings Sdn. Bhd., Laglove (M) Sdn., and Biopro (M) Sdn. Bhd. (collectively, “Brightway Group”). The modification means that CBP will allow disposable gloves produced by Brightway Group to enter the United States, provided they are compliant with other U.S. trade and forced labor laws, such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”).

Generally, CBP will issue a WRO listing the specific violations that the subject producer violated and gives them the opportunity to take corrective actions. If such actions are taken, the subject producer will be removed from the WRO through modifications and subject imports will be allowed to resume. If, on the other hand, CBP further investigates the subject producer’s action and finds more evidence of the prevalence of forced labor in its production, CBP will instead issue a finding. The finding will effectively prohibit the importation of the subject producer’s goods into the United States.

CBP issued the WRO on the Malaysian glove producers on Nov. 4, 2021, and has made two modifications to the order in 2024 alone. The WRO was issued based on evidence reasonably indicating that the working conditions at the Birghtway Group “exposed workers to 10 of the 11 International Labour Organization forced labor indicators.” Since the implementation of the WRO, CBP noted that “Brightway Group has taken actions to fully remediate the forced labor indicators within its manufacturing process.” Accordingly, CBP modified the order by removing it entirely, which means that effective immediately, Brightway Group’s disposable gloves will no longer be detained at the U.S. port of entry.

In its modification update, CBP highlighted its increased efforts in combating forced labor-made goods and its heightened goal of “making a real impact toward eliminating forced labor from U.S. Supply chains,” said AnnMarie R. Highsmith, the Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade. According to CBP, its forced labor enforcement efforts have improved the living and working conditions for tens of thousands of workers, including the repayment of more than $62 million in withheld wages and recruitment fees used to trap workers in debt bondages.

While the majority of CBP’s forced labor efforts have been recently focused on the enforcement of the UFLPA, intel from the agency indicates that more modifications, as well as findings, are expected to be issued on WROs before the end of the year.

It is also worth noting that while this WRO has been lifted, the Biden Administration’s recent tariff increase announcement on nitrile disposable gloves is still set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, with the tariff increasing from 7.5% to 25%.

If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert or WRO and forced labor laws in general, please contact Mark Ludwikowski (mludwikowski@clarkhill.com; 202-640-6680), Kevin R. Williams (kwilliams@clarkhill.com; 312-985-5907), Sally Alghazali (salghazali@clarkhill.com; 202-572-8676), or other members of Clark Hill’s Business and Human Rights practice group.

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