Cases / Agriculture, livestock and food · Malaysia · 2020

Sime Darby Plantation withhold release order

Nature's voice · report

No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.

Did nature suffer? Not measured.

Not on record

The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.

What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

In December 2020 US Customs and Border Protection issued a Withhold Release Order on palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation, on forced-labour grounds. Later steps are reported only in secondary listings and are not stated here as fact.

30 Dec 2020US import order on Sime Darby Plantation palm oil
Withhold Release Order issued by US Customs and Border Protection on forced-labour grounds.

Status As of the latest dated entry in the record (30 December 2020 order): lifting of the order is reported by a secondary source but not verified.

What?

US Customs and Border Protection issued a Withhold Release Order on palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation. US Customs and Border Protection

Where?

The record does not say where the alleged forced labour took place. The order was issued by a United States agency.

When?

30 December 2020. US Customs and Border Protection

Who?

Gained

None on record

Lost

Sime Darby Plantation — Its palm oil became the subject of a CBP Withhold Release Order. US Customs and Border Protection

Harmed

None on record

Why?

Forced labour. US Customs and Border Protection

How?

A Withhold Release Order issued by CBP. US Customs and Border Protection

6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 30 December 2020 US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order on palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation. The order was issued on forced-labour grounds.

The research record for this case holds no further account from CBP, from Sime Darby Plantation or from any affected worker or community. Later steps attributed to the order are listed under what is unknown.

202030 December: CBP issues a Withhold Release Order on Sime Darby Plantation palm oil, citing forced labour

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

Recorded

CBP issued a Withhold Release Order on Sime Darby Plantation palm oil on 30 December 2020, on forced-labour grounds.
US Customs and Border Protection

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

2020-12-30–2020-12-30Outcome not on record
Withhold Release Order on Sime Darby Plantation palm oil
US Customs and Border Protection · Administrative · US Customs and Border Protection → Sime Darby Plantation
CBP issued a Withhold Release Order on palm oil produced by Sime Darby Plantation on forced-labour grounds. A later lifting is reported by a secondary source and is not verified. US Customs and Border Protection

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Court

Unclear Withhold Release Order on Sime Darby Plantation palm oil: outcome not on record.

Record

Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the order was said to rest on "all 11" International Labour Organization forced-labour indicators. The CBP release was not reviewed directly; the order's date and basis are taken from secondary reporting.
Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a formal CBP finding in January 2021 and the lifting of the order on 31 January 2022, both from a secondary source.
Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Sime Darby was named in 2009-2010 reporting among palm and rubber concession holders in Liberia (about 220,000 hectares over 63 years). This is not established here as part of this case.
None on record A corporate-accountability list names "Sime Darby" without saying which Sime Darby entity it refers to.