“We are still investigating. At this point, we do not have any details,” its minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said at a press conference today after launching the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030.

She said it was possible that the products were not from Malaysia at all, or that locally manufactured products only made up a small part of the seizure.

The US agency said in a statement yesterday that since Feb 11, it had seized four shipments of a palm oil derivative that had been produced in Malaysia worth nearly US$2.5 million (RM10.5 million), which it alleged had been produced using forced labour.

However, the agency did not name the company involved.

On CBP’s withhold release order (WRO) on palm oil products produced by Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP), Zuraida said the matter was being resolved.

“It’s in the process of settlement. For SDP there are no (restrictions),” she said.

In the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the US and the UK should not lecture Malaysia on forced labour issues as historically the two countries had worse records.

He also claimed the US ban on palm oil produced by SDP was a “white man’s game” intended to stop Malaysia from exporting its commodities abroad.

In December 2020, CBP announced a ban on palm oil and products containing palm oil produced by SDP and its subsidiaries, following allegations of forced labour practices.

Yesterday, human resources minister M Saravanan said a labour department investigation had found no breach of the International Labour Organization’s 11 indicators of forced labour.

When asked about the latest development of her status in Bersatu following its leadership’s assessment of her alleged involvement with Parti Bangsa Malaysia, Zuraida, who is a member of the party’s Supreme Council, declined to comment.

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