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Malaysia moves to strengthen international trade compliance

Johari said that Malaysia currently has no laws or mechanisms to prohibit the importation of goods produced using forced labour.

Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Johari Abdul Ghani speaks during a question-and-answer session in the Malaysian Parliament on June 23. (Photo: Parliament of Malaysia)
Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Johari Abdul Ghani speaks during a question-and-answer session in the Malaysian Parliament on June 23. (Photo: Parliament of Malaysia)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia is developing a mechanism to ban the import of goods produced using forced labour as a proactive measure to strengthen international trade compliance and regulatory requirements of trading partners, said Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Johari Abdul Ghani.

Johari said the Malaysian Government has established an Inter-Agency Task Force on Forced Labour (IATFL), chaired by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, to study and formulate the relevant mechanism.

The task force includes relevant ministries and agencies, namely the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Human Resources, and the Ministry of Transport, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, Johari said.

He was speaking at the Parliament of Malaysia regarding the latest status of the implementation of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade between Malaysia and the US.

Johari said that Malaysia currently has no laws or mechanisms to prohibit the importation of goods produced using forced labour.

He said the implementation of the mechanism will also take into account developments in the US Section 301 investigation, including early indications of a possible 10% indicative tariff on Malaysia after July 24 regarding the issue of forced labour.

The minister said the investigation into forced labour is almost finalised, while the investigation into market access is still in progress.

On June 2, 2026, Johari said the US had announced preliminary findings of an investigation into 60 countries that allegedly failed to enforce import bans on goods made using forced labour.

He said Malaysia was among 54 nations identified as not having specific legal restrictions on the entry of such goods, while six other countries had laws but were found to have failed to enforce them./.

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