KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s exports of palm oil products to the US generally do not encounter problems except for the restrictions imposed last month on the commodity produced by FGV Holdings Bhd, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.
“Hence, for now, the restrictions imposed on Malaysian palm oil products by the US do not have a significant impact on the sector,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
“FGV only exports 40 tonnes of palm oil to the US. Malaysia exported 292,940 tonnes of palm oil to the US during the May-September period, compared with 292,011 tonnes for the same period in 2019.”
He was replying to a question from Datuk Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) on the extent to which the US’ boycott of FGV palm oil is affecting overall exports of the commodity this year.
On the veracity of the claim by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that FGV used forced labour, Khairuddin said the company has responded to the accusation.
“For your information, CBP issued a withhold release order to impose restrictions on imports of palm oil and its products from FGV on September 30.
“The restrictions were issued based on petitions submitted to the US agency by several non-governmental organisations, related to the alleged use of forced labour in the process of producing palm oil products by FGV. However, the validity of the allegation has not yet been confirmed.” – Bernama, November 5, 2020
