These costs comprise mainly consultancy fees as well as costs to provide passport lockers for its workers.“ We are of the view that current measures taken to improve its labour practices will help shorten the timeframe to correct any gaps.... SD Plant also does not charge workers any recruitment fees and pays for all official and legal recruitment costs.“ In view of the above, the remediation costs per worker, if any, are unlikely to be as significant compared to those paid by glove makers to t

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation( SDP) said on Thursday it had dissolved its human rights commission, after the resignation of two of the three experts on the panel that the company had set up to help lift a U.S import ban. The company said its sustainability committee would take on the commission's role to review a labour practice assessment. The world's largest sustainable palm oil producer established the commission in March after the United States imposed a ban o

PETALING JAYA: The moves by US food group Cargill Inc and Italian confectionary giant Ferrero to stop sourcing palm oil products from Sime Darby Plantation Bhd( SDP) are expected to have minimal financial impact on the plantation group. Despite a potential knee-jerk reaction on the share price of SDP, Hong Leong Investment Bank( HLIB) Research believed that the group would be able to divert its products elsewhere, given the current tight supply of vegetable oils globally. Furthermore, SDP has al

Subsequently, in January 2022, USCBP published a notice of finding, whereby the government agency determined that certain of the company’s palm oil products are produced using convict, forced or indentured labour.... The finding is primarily aimed at Sime Darby Plantation’s Malaysian operations.TA said that overall, it is positive on the changes and improvements to the company’s governance structures, policies and procedures that have been taken so far.... The research firm said it is maintain

IN June this year, when IJM Corp Bhd announced plans to divest its controlling stake in its plantation arm, the group gave a few reasons for the deal. That included securing an attractive price for an asset for which the group had no plans for expansion.... The deal also enables the group to focus on its other synergistic activities of construction, property development, infrastructure concessions and the manufacturing of building materials, IJM had said. All that is true, but industry observer

A Close Look at a Fashion Supply Chain Is Not Pretty A new report on factories in Malaysia that create products for Brooks Brothers, Levi’s, LL Bean and others examines the high prices workers pay for their jobs.... Its factories make huge numbers of shirts — particularly for men — for brands including Brooks Brothers, Bonobos and LL Bean.... In fact, TAL Apparel claims it makes one in six dress shirts sold in the United States....