Sime Darby Plantation Disappointed With Us Forced Labour Findings

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Sime Darby Plantation said it had appointed an independent ethical trade consultancy to undertake an assessment of the US charges and this report was close to completion.PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) said it is disappointed with the findings of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that there is “sufficient information” that some of the company’s products were produced with forced or indentured labour.
This comes after CBP issued a withhold release order (WRO) on SDP’s products in December 2020 following allegations of forced labour, based on information that “reasonably indicates” the presence of all 11 of the International Labour Organization’s forced labour indicators.
The WRO effectively banned imports of SDP products into the US.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, SDP’s group managing director Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said the company had appointed an independent ethical trade consultancy to undertake a “full-scale and independent assessment” spanning its facilities across Malaysia as a result of the WRO.
“This work was delayed by the government-mandated Covid-19 restrictions across Malaysia, but is now close to completion,” he said.
Stating that the CBP’s findings come “just ahead” of the publication of the independent report, SDP said it was confident the report would demonstrate that the company had internal controls and systems in place to support its workers and ensure their well-being.
A notice published today in the US Federal Register notified the public that through its investigation, CBP had determined there is “sufficient information to support a finding that SDP and its subsidiaries are using forced labour on Sime Darby’s plantations in Malaysia to harvest fresh fruit bunches, which are used to extract palm oil and produce derivative products”.
The notice added that palm oil and other derivative products produced by the company are “likely being imported” into the US, and that the CBP could now seize and forfeit all SDP products which have entered the US or those that may enter in the future.
The notice comes after the CBP placed a WRO on glove maker Brightway last month, making it the seventh Malaysian company to face a US import ban in the last three years. - FMT

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