US blocks imports of tomatoes from Mexican farm over forced labor allegations

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WASHINGTON / MEXICO CITY, October 21 (Reuters) – The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Thursday that it will ban imports of fresh tomatoes produced by Mexican tomato producer Horticula Tom to the series of accusations received concerning the use of forced labor.

A legal representative of Horticula Tom said the company had “no labor issues” and is complying with Mexican rules after CBP announced the export restrictions.

Legal representative Rommel Fernandez told Reuters the company had not been made aware of the restriction. The farm has more than 600 employees.

On Thursday, CBP issued a dismissal order against the company on the basis of what it said was “information which reasonably indicates the use of forced labor against its workers.”

He said that in October 2020, Mexican authorities took action against allegations of forced labor conditions at the same tomato farm in Mexico.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has said addressing forced labor allegations is a priority.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Wednesday that the administration wanted to clarify “that products made in whole or in part by forced labor will not be allowed in the United States … We will remove them from the chains of ‘American supply’.

CBP also said this week it would ban disposable gloves produced by Malaysian company Supermax Corp Bhd’s (SUPM.KL) and some of its wholly-owned subsidiaries over allegations of forced labor.

Supermax is the fourth Malaysian company to face such a ban in the past 15 months. The company’s shares fell nearly 9% on Thursday.

Supermax said he was in contact with CBP to get more clarity and would speed up a process he started in 2019 to meet International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. The company said the United States accounted for about 20% of its total sales.

The ILO estimates that 25 million workers suffer from forced labor conditions around the world, according to the Biden administration.

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Sharay Angulo in Mexico Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Rosalba O’Brien

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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