Eight M'sian companies slapped with WRO past two years - Dewan Rakyat told

KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat was told today that eight Malaysian companies had been subjected to the Withhold Release Order (WRO) imposed by the United States Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) in the past two years.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Awang Hashim said these companies comprised producers of rubber gloves and oil palm products.

However, two of the eight companies were released from this order in 2021 after taking the necessary preventive measures and actions, he said.

"This included proving that the products made, produced or manufactured did not involve any practice of forced labour," he said during the question-and-answer session when asked by R. Sivarasa (PH-Sungai Buloh) on the names and business fields of Malaysian companies slapped with the WRO by US CBP from 2019 until now.

Meanwhile, he said the Malaysia-U.S. Joint Working Group Committee was scheduled to hold its first meeting virtually in August, with the second meeting planned to be held physically in Kuala Lumpur in December this year.

The committee was formed following a proposal made by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan when visiting the United States last May.

Awang said that through the committee, various cooperation programmes were expected to be implemented, including on capacity development, information and technology sharing, and dialogue sessions with parties of interest.

-- BERNAMA