He said SDP deserved praise for being compliant with international labour standards and called for other companies to follow suit, especially those that employ foreign workers.

“The ministry will not compromise on any form of oppression or exploitation of workers.

“We have intensified enforcement activities and will severely punish those who violate the law,” he said in a statement.

Sivakumar urged businesses and employers to step up efforts to create conducive work environments for their employees as well as improving their compliance with international labour standards.

In December 2020, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a withhold release order (WRO) on SDP’s products following allegations of forced labour, effectively banning imports of the company’s products into the US.

The order was issued after the CBP obtained information that “reasonably indicates” the presence of all 11 of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) forced labour indicators.

The indicators include restriction of movement, physical and sexual violence, intimidation and threats, retention of identity documents, withholding of wages, and excessive overtime.

In April last year, SDP submitted a report to the CBP in the hope of getting the WRO lifted.

The CBP then cleared SDP of the allegations, with a filing dated Jan 31 stating it had satisfactory evidence that SDP no longer used forced labour to produce its palm oil products.