IOI Corp Notes Forced Labor Claims Against Planter in US Letter to Activist

IOI Corp Bhd said the company has taken note of the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) letter to migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall to whom the CBP indicated that the CBP had acknowledged the receipt of a petition providing information on alleged forced labor at oil palm plantation company IOI Corp’s operations in Malaysia.

According to a statement on IOI Corp’s website today, the CBP indicated in a letter dated May 26, 2021 that the CBP had determined the information was sufficient to investigate the merits of the allegation.

“As at the date of this statement (June 25), IOI Corp has not been contacted by CBP with regard to their investigation. Nevertheless, IOI Corp will take the proactive step in contacting CBP to confirm the existence of an investigation and offer our cooperation in providing explanation and documents to assist the investigation.

“Being a founding member of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and among the first Malaysian companies to announce a zero recruitment fees policy — where workers do not have to pay any fees or flight charges to join the company, for all our migrant workers in year 2017, IOI Corp is well aware of the importance of our workers’ rights and working conditions, as well as the requirement to adhere to Malaysian labor laws and international labor standards.

“We have been working with a number of local and international labor rights experts and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) during the last five years to monitor the implementation of our labor policies, and provide recommendations on improving our labor policies, practices and conditions in our plantations. We recognize that this is an ongoing process and will endeavor to achieve our objective of being an exemplary company in this area,” IOI Corp said.

On Bursa Malaysia today, IOI Corp’s share price slipped one sen or 0.26% at 12.21pm to RM3.82, giving the company a market capitalization of about RM24.03 billion.

IOI Corp has 6.29 billion issued shares.