FGV seeks to submit petition to US Customs by end-June

HLIB Research said the petition will be submitted following the completion of Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance’s assessment report.

PETALING JAYA: FGV Holdings Bhd, which has reimbursed a total of RM72.2mil to its active migrant workers, is expected to submit a petition to the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) in June.

According to Hong Leong Investment Bank Research (HLIB Research), the petition will be submitted following the completion of Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance’s (LRQA) assessment report, which is likely to be in April 2024.

“While timing of the modification/lifting of the Withhold Release Order (WRO) by USCBP is beyond FGV’s control, management shared it will typically take six to 12 months to review the report and validate the estates,” said HLIB Research.

FGV has been working towards lifting an import ban on its palm oil and palm-oil products to the United States after it was hit by a WRO by the USCBP on Sept 30, 2020.

In response, FGV implemented remedial measures to have the ban lifted, including appointing a global independent consultant, LRQA (formerly known as Elevate), to conduct an assessment of the group’s operations against the 11 International Labour Organisation indicators of forced labour.

HLIB Research said that FGV has completed the reimbursement programme to 20,153 active migrant workers with a total sum of RM72.2mil as of September 2023 and this has been fully verified by LRQA.