Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 30): FGV Holdings Bhd said the site assessments by Elevate, which is the independent auditor appointed to assess the group’s operations against the 11 International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour, is expected to commence in the first half of 2022.

During a virtual press conference, FGV group chief executive officer Mohd Nazrul Izam Mansor said the preparatory work for the independent audit had started earlier in November.

“It is a process. Based on the timeline set by Elevate, it will take about six months to undertake the reviews at some of our estates because they need to follow a programme, and then from there on we will need to work on a remediation plan,” he said.

Mohd Nazrul added that the group will only know how much time it will take to undertake the remediations based on the findings of the assessor’s review.

“Certain remediations may be quick, while others may take longer than expected. We will only be able to know once the gaps are identified, so we will have better clarity some time next year,” he said.

Once FGV has completed and verified the necessary remediations, the group will submit a petition for the revocation of the Withhold Release Order (WRO) by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The CBP had issued the WRO on Sept 30, 2020 as its investigation had indicated signs of forced labour such as deception, physical and sexual violence, the retention of identity documents and intimidation, and that threats had been made.

Edited ByKathy Fong
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