AUTHORITIES in the US have said Sime Darby Plantation Bhd is no longer relying on forced labour, which will allow the conglomerate to resume palm oil exports to the US.

A notice on the US Federal Register yesterday stated that the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has determined that palm oil products made by Sime Darby Plantation were no longer produced with forced labour.

The US banned imports from Sime Darby Plantation on December 30, 2020, over allegations of forced labour practices.

On January 28, 2021, CBP issued its findings, confirming that some of Sime Darby Plantation’s palm oil products were produced using convict or forced indentured labour.

Last September, Sime Darby Plantation independent director Zaiton Mohd Hassan was reported as saying that the firm was continuing to engage with the CBP over the forced labour claims.

Zaiton had described the issue as a “wake-up call” for the company and that it would look into changes in its operations.

“This is a huge wake-up call for us. We are more than 200 years old and plantation (operations) has always been run the same way. It is about time we take a very hard look at how we do this and make changes,” she had said. – February 3, 2023.