Nitrile Gloves

Waiver Rationale Summary

The current market for U.S. manufactured nitrile gloves is not able to meet the Department’s need. Both 4 MIL and 5 MIL nitrile gloves are not grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States in a sufficient quantity to satisfy the entirety of the Department’s nitrile glove requirements. Additionally, 6 MIL gloves of a satisfactory quality for DHS are unavailable in any quantity. Current U.S. manufacturing can cover only a percentage of the DHS requirement for nitrile gloves and additional time is needed to increase production capabilities to cover 100% of the Department’s nitrile glove requirement. DHS will continue to seek domestic manufacturers for nitrile gloves and will utilize those domestic sources that meet our specifications and satisfy our testing requirements as soon as they become available. Currently, 50% of Department’s nitrile glove demand is satisfied by domestic sources. DHS anticipates the full demand for 4 MIL and 5 MIL nitrile gloves to be met by domestic sources by December 2024; however, domestic sourcing of 6 MIL nitrile gloves is dependent upon FDA approval.