CBP Issues Withhold Release Order on Palm Oil From Malaysia
CBP will detain imports of “palm oil and palm oil products made by FGV Holdings Berhad and its subsidiaries and joint ventures” starting Sept. 30, the agency said in a news release the same day. The Withhold Release Order “is the result of a year-long investigation that revealed forced labor indicators including abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, physical and sexual violence, intimidation and threats, retention of identity documents, withholding of wages, debt bondage, abusive working and living conditions, and excessive overtime,” CBP said. “The investigation also raised concerns that forced child labor is potentially being used in FGV’s palm oil production process,” it said. Palm oil is frequently used in products in grocery and convenience stores, including “processed foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, soap and biodiesel.”
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The WRO also follows a recent Associated Press investigative report that found forced labor to be common in palm oil operations. “The AP used the most recently published data from producers, traders and buyers of the world’s most-consumed vegetable oil, as well as U.S. Customs records, to link the laborers’ palm oil and its derivatives from the mills that process it to the supply chains of top Western companies like the makers of Oreo cookies, Lysol cleaners and some of Hershey’s chocolatey treats,” the news service said.