The Indian Rubber Gloves Manufacturers Association (IRGMA) has petitioned to the Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupender Yadav (Government of India) to take action against Mun Health Product (India), a subsidiary of Hartalega, a publicly listed company in Malaysia, for importing banned chlorinated gloves into the country through various ports.

“At the port of entry, they mislabel chlorinated gloves as permissible imports, which are then sold to hospitals as medical gloves,” said IRGMA.

“The government must implement strict measures to check for misdeclarations by importers at the ports and ensure that consumer interests are protected. These poor-quality chlorinated gloves are being supplied to government hospitals and industries. The rubber gloves being imported from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China are undermining the Union Government’s Make in India initiative as well,” said the IRGMA.

Industry data shows imports of these gloves surged by 58.6% to 460 million pieces in August from 290 million pieces in July 2024.

“Mun Health Product (India) has violated the Biomedical Waste Management Rules (which mandate the phase-out of chlorinated gloves by March 2019), and the MD Rules concerning adverse effects on consumers by bringing in these banned chlorinated gloves,” stated the IRGMA in their letter to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.

The association tested the gloves sold under Glove-On Eureka brand (Manufacturer: Hartalega, Malaysia) at a private lab, and the results confirmed the presence of chlorination. “We have attached the lab report, which indicates chlorine bonds in the gloves, along with import data and the rules being violated in India while dumping the chlorinated gloves in our letter to the Union Minister. Mun Health has submitted a misdeclaration regarding the type of gloves, labelling them as non-medical to avoid testing as per MD rules. Furthermore, the import data shows an unusually low unit price for the gloves, whereas the actual international price is significantly higher,” said an IRGMA spokesperson.