US says it will block palm oil from large Malaysian producer
The U.S. government says it will block palm oil shipments from one of Malaysia’s biggest producers, citing widespread labor abuses
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The withhold release order will be effective immediately following a yearlong investigation, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner at the agency’s Office of Trade.
FGV is one of the world’s largest palm oil companies and is connected to Felda, which is owned by the Malaysian government.
The order comes days after an Associated Press investigation exposed a litany of labor abuses in the palm oil industry in Malaysia and Indonesia, including on a Felda plantation.