Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof
KUALA LUMPUR: Those who champion international human rights standards in Malaysian palm oil plantations should not brush all countries with the same brush and label Malaysia as a high-risk country, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Plantations and Commodities Minister said that standards can vary from country to country due to the culture and the traditional way of doing things, which may not be regarded as going against human rights norms by international standards.
He pointed out that palm oil smallholders usually involve all family members in the process and regard it as an educational process for the children, not child labour.
He was speaking to the media after launching the People Positive Palm Project (P3 Project) in collaboration with Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Human Rights Coalition (HRC), Fair Labor Association (FLA) and International Organisation on Migration (IOM) at a hotel here Tuesday (March 14).
It is very important to engage all the stakeholders and players in the community, be it the government or the industry, he added.
"At the same time, we must realise that we should recognise international standards so that our industrial players can fulfil the expectations of the global market as we are exporting our goods and services.
"It has to be in compliance with the expectations of our buyers. These are the things we have to balance and thus collaboration is important.
"These organisations chose Malaysia for this programme so that such a balance can be found," said Fadillah.
He also stated that the issue of recruitment fees being regarded as "debt bondage" which lowered the ranking of human rights compliance by the Malaysian palm oil industry would be addressed by the Human Resources Ministry and Home Ministry.
"We have introduced the Malaysian Status for Palm Oil (MSPO) standards, which is better than Roundtable on Sustainable Palm OIl (RSPO) standards.
"All the elements such as forced labour, environment and as such are addressed in that. The beauty of MSPO is that financial assistance is provided to the smallholders so that they too can comply with the standards.
"My Indonesian counterpart Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and I will be meeting with our counterparts in Europe to have a session there to explain to them the standards we have developed in Malaysia.
"This is to enable us to meet at the middle. It will be a win-win for all as everyone is looking out for the environment and human rights.
"What is important is how we can all find a middle ground which is acceptable not only to the international standards but also to address the shortcomings with regard to the practices in Malaysia.
"Malaysia must not be ranked as a high-risk country. Whatever initiative that we have done such as MSPO, smallholders must be taken into account and rules and regulations must be applied throughout the world.
"It must not only be to us. Also the question of why rapeseed was not included in the list of the European Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) must be addressed.
"We are subsidising the smallholders in Malaysia so that they too can comply with the MSPO as we need to protect every part of our industry.
"We will not compromise when it comes to our standards," said Fadillah.
Earlier, in his speech, Fadillah said that it is the states’ duty to protect human rights while encouraging economic growth, whereas the responsibility of businesses is to observe all laws and regulations while seeking to maximise profits.
"With institutional partners such as the ILO, IOLM and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the government of Malaysia will continue to strengthen its efforts to support a people-positive approach.
"This includes collaborative efforts in learning and training, as well as developing people-positive policies and action plans, ensuring no one is left behind, including smallholders.
"I hope the palm oil sector, through a pragmatic business approach to Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), will address root causes of forced labour in a sustainable and structural manner.
"There is still much to do towards solving all the issues that we face, but charting the right course right from the outset is extremely important," said Fadillah.
Malaysia, which is the world's second largest palm oil exporter, has come under attack many times from international organisations that claim that the production chain does not comply with international human rights and environmental standards.
At the same event, CGF sustainability director Didier Bergeret stated that "product positive must come with people positive".
"The P3 project needs to engage with large palm oil companies and structure the platform that goes beyond the traditional structure and go beyond as well as all the way down (the chain).
"Many workers migrating to Malaysia are paying recruitment fees and that is not acceptable as that is regarded as debt bondage," said Bergeret.
He said that the labour market should ensure such recruitment fees are not only repaid but do not recur.
"The palm oil industry must be farmer positive and people positive," said Bergeret.
