On 30 December 2020, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a 'Withhold Release Order' against Malaysian company Sime Darby Plantation over allegations of forced labour in its palm oil production. Withhold Release Orders are issued under US federal statute 19 U.S.C. 1307 which prohibits the importation of merchandise mined, manufactured, or produced, wholly or in part, by convict labor, forced labor, and/or indentured labor, including forced or indentured child labor.

According to the CBP press release "The issuance of a Withhold Release Order against Sime Darby Plantation palm oil is based on information that reasonably indicates the presence of all 11 of the International Labour Organization’s forced labor indicators in Sime Darby Plantation’s production process."

The order followed an investigation by the Associated Press into forced labour and other abuses on Sime Darby's Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil plantations. The CSO Liberty Shared filed the original petition.

On 31 December 2020, Sime Darby Plantation released a statement in response to the order, stating: "We are currently reviewing the CBP’s news release in order to better understand the potential impact, if any, of the Withhold Release Order. The CBP’s news release does not provide sufficient information to allow [Sime Darby Plantation] SDP to meaningfully address the allegations that triggered the issuance of the Withhold Release Order. Nevertheless, we look forward to receiving pertinent information and working with CBP in order to address their concerns and quickly resolve this matter [...] SDP is committed to combatting forced labour and has implemented robust policies to protect worker’s rights [...]"

To access the statement in full see here.

On 31 December 2020, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil published a statement: "[...] The RSPO has zero-tolerance for the practices described in the CBP Press Release. This is precisely why the protection of human rights has been so deeply embedded in our standards. We can confirm that an initial review of audit findings earlier this year did not generate any red flags against Sime Darby Plantations. We rely on independent auditors to detect violations of this nature and to date, no non-conformances have been identified on any certified SDP plantations. We have launched an immediate investigation into these new violations cited by the CBP and we would appreciate any specifics that they, or their investigators can share beyond the generic information in the media [...]"

To access the statement in full see here.