Onus on Malaysian companies to play by US rules, says Zuraida

 

US Customs and Border Protection had previously slapped withhold release orders against Malaysian palm oil and rubber glove imports over forced labour claims. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian companies have been told to take note of a US border agency’s method of operations to avoid potential import bans in the future stemming over forced labour issues.

Plantation industries and commodities minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said this was following reports that US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) investigation methods derived information from third-party sources.

She said while Malaysia was not agreeable with CBP’s ways of relying on remote or third-party evidence in its probe of forced labour indicators, it was the agency’s prerogative to act based on what it deemed to be proprietary information.

“Nevertheless, CBP, in detailing the route and subsequent actions taken against companies, has reiterated that its investigations were done through reasonable information, analysis, investigations and assumptions.

“The onus is on industry players, especially those in the labour-intensive rubber gloves and plantation sector, to pay heed to CBP’s sensitivities, and work on a remedial action plan before being slapped with a withhold release order for an accusation of forced labour,” she said in a statement.

Zuraida said Malaysia’s palm oil industry, in particular, had to bear the brunt of being in direct competition with soybean oil, where the US was the world’s leading producer and second-largest exporter.

Last week, CBP officials said investigations relied heavily on independent third-party audits. It also said they had employed ways to verify such audits but did not say how they did so. - FMT