KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) has today said it is still reviewing United States Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) order yesterday banning its palm oil and products for alleged forced labour, claiming insufficient information.
Instead, the palm oil giant said it is committed to combat forced labour and has implemented policies to protect workers’ rights, including appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers
Consulting Associates in October 2020 to assist its efforts.
“We are currently reviewing the CBP’s news release in order to better understand the potential impact, if any, of the Withhold Release Order,” it said in a statement.
“The CBP’s news release does not provide sufficient information to allow SDP to
meaningfully address the allegations that triggered the issuance of the Withhold Release
Order.”
It also said that it will continue to work with both CBP, and non-profit Liberty Shared (LS) in order to take corrective action.
“Our engagements with multiple stakeholders have commenced ever since SDP became aware of the petition submitted by LS to the CBP back in July 2020, and have continued regularly with SDP updating stakeholders on all measures taken internally to address any gaps and potential areas of concern as identified by our own internal audit processes,” it said.
Yesterday, CBP announced that its personnel will detain any palm oil and products manufactured by Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and its subsidiaries or affiliates after finding that SDP has 11 of the marks of forced labour designated by the International Labour Organisation.
In July, a Hong Kong-based anti-trafficking NGO called Liberty Shared had petitioned against Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation Bhd due to alleged child and forced labour.
The petition’s summary said workers and civil society it interviewed revealed complaints of arbitrary penalties, threats of and actual sexual harassment, physical threats and abuse, various and inconsistent deductions in pay, varying conditions of accommodation, and fees charged for basic facilities.
Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil, the most consumed edible oil, with Sime Darby Plantation one of the largest in the industry here with a history stretching back to the 1800s.
Last year, the CBP had already issued a separate order against another Malaysian palm oil giant, FGV Holdings Bhd, following claims of child and forced labour, following two petitions — by the Grant & Eisenhofer ESG Institute, and International Labor Rights Forum, Rainforest Action Network and SumOfUs.
The US is one of the largest importers of Malaysian palm oil products. In 2019, exports of Malaysian palm oil products to the US were worth RM3.1 billion (1.1 million tonnes).
The American Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits entry of goods that arrive at US ports if there is reason to believe they contain materials made with forced labour.
Malaysia already faces a possible European Union ban on palm oil, allegedly due to environmental concerns, which it was planning to challenge in court.
