THE US Government should have consulted its Malaysian counterpart before deciding to ban palm oil imports from Sime Darby Plantation Bhd.
“We take note of the US Government’s decision to ban Sime Darby Plantation’s oil palm products to the nation without verifying with us on allegations of forced labour.
“This is not surprising to us as the US Government did the same thing with FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV) in the past over the same allegations, which was denied by the former.
“Nevertheless, the decision did not affect FGV’s financial standing or its operations and the US Government itself had considered to revoke its Withhold Release Order (WRO) after a petition was filed,” said Plantations Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.
Yesterday, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a ban on all palm oil and its related products from Sime Darby Plantation on grounds that the latter was engaged in forced labour activities.
“The issuance of a WRO against Sime Darby Plantation’s palm oil is based on information that reasonably indicates the presence of all 11 of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) forced labour indicators in Sime Darby Plantation’s production process.
“Federal statute 19 U.S.C. 1307 prohibits the importation of merchandise mined, manufactured or produced, wholly or in part, by convict labour, forced labour, and/or indentured labour, including forced or indentured child labour.
“The directive will require the detention at all US ports of entry of raw palm oil and processed products containing palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation,” said CBP’s acting commissioner Mark A Morgan.
We will not tolerate forced labour
Touching on the ban, Khairuddin said the CBP has every right to issue a WRO based on its regulations. However, he said the US authority should have given Sime Darby Plantation an opportunity to answer the accusations levelled against it.
“I disagree with the US Government’s drastic decision without giving anyone a chance to explain themselves.
“My ministry agrees that there were cases of forced labour and child labour in our plantations sector in the past but it was an isolated incident based on a report filed in 2018,” he opined.
Khairuddin added that a copy of the report was also sent to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur last month, insisting that the errant plantation players have been duly reprimanded.
“However, I would like to stress that if the allegations made by the US Government was found to be true, we will not hesitate to take action against those unscrupulous companies,” added the Kuala Nerus MP. – Dec 31, 2020.
