April 13, 2023

Panel Session at the 3rd German-Malaysia Business Forum on ESG

April 13, 2023

On 12 April 2023, Segi Enam’s Khor Yu Leng moderated a panel session on "Building sustainable supply chain management in Malaysia - headwinds vs tailwinds" at the 3rd German-Malaysian Business Forum on ESG - organised by the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC). The main focus of this forum was on ESG Supply Chain Management.

The list of panelists:

Klaus Burkart, COO & Co-Founder of Cargodian GmbH;
Vimala Arumugam, Managing Director of BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd;
Dr Meenachi Muniandy, Senior Director and Head of Industry ESG Division of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI); and
Bilal Parvaiz, Executive Director & Head Islamic Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking of Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad.

Here are some key points from this panel discussion. The panelists spoke about how net zero commitments drive scope 3 and supply chain efforts on ESG. The financial sector is helping to drive changes while offering some incentives, with a push from central banks in each country. The actions of large corporations have led the way, and buyers can help supply chain partners understand requirements. MITI and other government agencies are working to help smaller players confused by ESG needs.

New Malaysia ESG policy frameworks for the industry is coming out in 3Q this year, and carbon pricing scenarios for Malaysia are being assessed. The increasing availability of cost-effective solutions is a positive. The opportunity is in leveraging OPEX and CAPEX spending into billions for company bottom-lines. Moreover, new jobs in green and support sectors will be on the rise.

research@segi-enam.com | 13 April 2023

Segi Enam Research

June 9, 2022

[Sample!] PalmTrack—US CBP Workshop on Forced Labour

Segi Enam Research

June 9, 2022

Yesterday, the US CBP conducted a virtual workshop on forced labour facilitated by MPOC. The one hour-long workshop provided a useful guide as to how the agency generally enforces its anti-forced labour tools, as well as how it modifies and revokes imposed export bans.

There are primarily three types of forced labour enforcement tools the US CBP exercises: Withhold Release Order (WRO), findings, and penalties. Note the difference in standard of proof for each tool—“reasonable suspicion” has a much lower bar than “probably cause”, the latter requiring that the US CBP “conclusively demonstrate that the merchandise is prohibited” due to elements of forced labour along the relevant supply chain.

As of 8 June 2022, the US CBP reports on its website that Malaysia has six WROs and one finding.

According to the US CBP, its forced labour enforcement process comprises a nine-step process, initiated whenever it receives a tip, whether from “internal channels” or received from external sources, e.g. civil society, “tips from researchers”, about exported merchandise produced using forced labour.

Companies slapped with WROs and/or findings are allowed to submit requests for modifications to and/or revocations of their export bans. The US CBP uses on ILO indicators as a guide when considering these requests.

In response to a question posed about how companies could provide evidence that its goods were not produced using forced labour, it was emphasised that companies are strongly encouraged to hire a reliable, independent auditor as an assessor, although the US CBP quickly clarified that it does not and will not dictate any specific requirements of said auditor. Interestingly, one of the speakers had expressed bewilderment that one Malaysian company had opted to use its “internal auditors” to challenge its export ban and hoped that the US CBP’s later rejection of the aforementioned company’s report assessment assessment emphasises its insistence for an independent audit.

research@segi-enam.com | 9 Jun 2022

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