"RSPO Statement on the U.S. CBP’s Withhold Release Order for Sime Darby Plantations", 31 December 2020

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) acknowledges the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Withhold Release Order (WRO) on materials imported to the United States from Sime Darby Plantations (SDP). We are concerned about comments made to the media by CBP officials regarding evidence of serious violations of the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) 2018. We have once again urged the CBP to share any information with us that will allow us to properly investigate this matter and report transparently on our findings. 

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.

RSPO’s Chief Executive Officer Designate, Beverley Postma, said, “We are deeply concerned to learn of the actions taken against Sime Darby Plantations and we have launched an immediate investigation.  We condemn the use of forced labour or any other form of modern slavery on any plantation, certified or uncertified. Human rights violations remain one of the toughest challenges for all agricultural and industrial sectors that operate in low income communities and we are committed to scaling up our collaboration between governments, civil society and businesses to address the root causes of these issues while increasing the monitoring and enforcement of our standards.” 

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