US imported tens of millions of used medical gloves from Thailand: Reports

In Thailand, numerous illegal enterprises sprung up during the pandemic, where migrant laborers have been washing and trying to restore the original appearance of disposable medical gloves given their high global demand, CNN said. The product was then shipped to different countries.

A months-long investigation revealed that millions of such counterfeit and second-hand nitrile gloves ended up in the US, according to import records and distributors who bought them.

"There's an enormous amount of bad product coming in, an endless stream of filthy, second-hand and substandard gloves coming into the US of which federal authorities, it seems, are only now beginning to understand the enormous scale," Douglas Stein, an industry expert, was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.

The investigation was prompted by a report by a US company, which had contacted the US Customs and Border Protection and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) early this year after receiving a shipment of dirty-looking gloves from Thailand. However, the Thai firm responsible for the shipment continued operation until at least July, according to CNN.

In August, the FDA ordered a seizure of shipments of personal protective equipment from a Thai company on the US border, five months after the agency received first complaints from American entrepreneurs.

The FDA told the broadcaster it does not comment on individual cases, but has taken "a number of steps to find and stop those selling unapproved products."