Petition: SDP raises concerns over serious allegations

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) is concerned over the serious allegations in a petition submitted to the United States (US) Customs and Border Protection on April 20, 2020 to 'exclude palm oil and palm oil products produced wholly or in part by forced labour and child labour by SDP owned and affiliated companies' which was made public by Liberty Shared yesterday.

SDP said the allegations were serious and against the commitments that the palm oil producer has publicly made, as articulated in their Responsible Agriculture Charter and Human Rights Charter.

"We believe over the years we have made genuine progress in improving our labour practices on the ground through various initiatives and collaborations with multiple partners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"Our efforts can be seen in various disclosures that we have made public, which include our latest Sustainability Report 2019, published in May 2020. We acknowledge the challenges and complexity of the supply chains across the industry of implementing our NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation) commitments," said SDP in a statement today.

Nevertheless, it said, the company was truly committed to eradicating instances of non-compliance by imposing immediate and appropriate corrective actions if and when they arose.

According to SDP, the petition was submitted without soliciting any feedback from the company.

Currently, it said, SDP has access only to the petition summary which provides issues that were raised, without any details on the interviews that were conducted.

"In the spirit of openness, transparency and collaboration that SDP has always upheld, we intend to engage with Liberty Shared to further understand these allegations in detail to enable us to conduct a thorough and immediate investigation and take corrective action, as the findings may warrant.

We believe this, in turn, will further help strengthen our practices globally to ensure we embed the respect for Human Rights on the ground throughout our operations," it added.

-- BERNAMA