PARLIAMENT | Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin has expressed readiness to personally engage with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over allegations of forced labour made against Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation.
Zuraida in her winding up of the royal address debate said she will be leading a delegation to the US for a meeting with the CBP.
"We were supposed to go to the US in January but they cancelled our meeting because of Covid.
"Tomorrow I will be going to the US Embassy and I will ask another date for me to go and face the CBP," Zuraida told the Dewan Rakyat.
She was responding to R Sivarasa (Pakatan Harapan-Sungai Buloh) who interjected to seek clarifications on the sanction imposed against Sime Darby in December 2020.
The CBP at the time said the issuance of a withhold release order against Sime Darby Plantation palm oil was based on information that reasonably indicated the presence of all 11 of the International Labour Organisation’s forced labour indicators in its production process.
With the issuance of the order, the CBP said its personnel at all US ports of entry will detain palm oil and any products containing palm oil produced by Sime Darby and related entities in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Zuraida revealed that the force labour allegations against Sime Darby Plantations were linked to parolees recruited via a programme under the Human Resources Ministry.
"I have my argument that they (CBP) are going against the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to ensure no one is left behind.
"There are also other SDGs on inclusivity that they have gone against. This is what I'm going to tell them," she said.
‘Random allegations’
Zuraida further said she had issues with the sanction imposed purportedly based on "random allegations" from NGOs and activists.
"These are the main things I will dispute. There must be a proper verification process.
"Now they just accuse and sanction. That is not fair. There must be verification that is informed to the company, so we can also make necessary improvements," she added.
Last month, the CBP said they are looking forward to working together with Sime Darby Plantation in addressing forced labour issues that had caused the company's products barred from entering the US. - Mkini
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