(Adds details of complaint, NGO’s response, rights activist’s quote; paragraphs 4-8,11-13)
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (Reuters) - The Securities Commission of Malaysia has begun investigating palm giant Sime Darby Plantations, the company said on Thursday, following a complaint by a non-government body in the wake of a U.S. ban on imports over accusations of forced labour.
Anti-trafficking group Liberty Shared accused the world’s largest producer of sustainably-made palm oil of “wrongful disclosures” in its 2019 sustainability report, the firm said in a statement.
“As a responsible corporate citizen listed on the Malaysian bourse, Sime Darby Plantations will cooperate fully with the Securities Commission,” it added.
UPDATE 1-Malaysia s securities panel probes Sime Darby Plantations after U S import ban reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LAST Thursday, crude palm oil futures breached RM4,000 per tonne for the first time since 2008. But despite this positive upward trend in prices, a cloud still hangs over the industry following another ban by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), this time on palm oil and products of Malaysian plantation giant Sime Darby Plantation Bhd on allegations of forced labour. The ban came into effect on Dec 30, 2020.
This would make Sime Darby Plantation the second Malaysian plantation company to be slapped with a CBP ban, the first being FGV Holdings Bhd last September, which saw a withhold release order (WRO) being issued on its palm oil and products also due to allegations of forced labour.