Rubber Journal Asia

US comes down hard on rubber gloves
Meanwhile in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formulated new rulings for medical rubber gloves that affect Malaysia since the country is the largest exporter of medical rubber gloves to the US.

The stricter requirements mean that glove shipments will have to contain fewer defective latex examination and surgical gloves to protect medical personnel from infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B or C. Under the FDA ruling, gloves marketed in the US must meet the acceptable quality level (AQL) of 2.5 (percentage of allowable defective gloves per 100 pieces) from the previous AQL 4.0 for examination gloves, and a more stringent AQL 1.5 from the previous 2.5 for surgical gloves.

But the Director of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council in Washington, Dr Esah Yip, says that Malaysian rubber glove exporters should not be duly concerned with the new ruling because most of them are already complying with the Standard Malaysian Glove (SMG) certification that requires exporters to meet the AQL 2.5 barrier integrity for examination gloves.