KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that Malaysia was upgraded from the lowest ranking in a US human trafficking report because it made significant improvements, not to ensure its continued participation in talks for a US-backed regional trade pact.
Malaysia was upgraded last month from its ‘‘Tier 3’’ ranking in last year’s State Department report on trafficking. Critics say the decision was tied to its involvement in negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that Washington is eager to conclude.
Kerry said he signed off on the trafficking report and had no conversations with anyone about links between it and the trade pact talks.
‘‘The government of Malaysia, I am pleased to say, has made significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards,’’ he said after attending a regional security meeting. ‘‘Malaysia has passed additional legislation in 2014. They consulted with civil society, drafted amendments to antitrafficking law in order to allow the country’s flawed victim protection regime to change.’’
Despite the upgrade, Kerry said Malaysia still has ‘‘a long way to go’’ and that it did not have a ‘‘gold seal of approval’’ from Washington. Malaysia will be demoted next year if it fails to follow through, he warned.
‘‘We all need to be true to the principal that although money may be used for many things, we must never allow a price tag to be placed on the heart and soul and the mind of a living person,’’ he said.
Kerry’s words came as congressional pressure in Washington intensified on the administration over alleged political interference in the rankings.
President Obama in late June signed into law legislation that gave him ‘‘fast-track’’ authority to expedite negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which involves 12 countries and would cover some 40 percent of the world economy. However, the fast-track authority bars the United States from entering into trade agreements with nations that have a Tier 3 ranking on the US human trafficking list. Malaysia was the only country in the Trans-Pacific talks with the Tier 3 ranking.
Human rights groups and dozens of US lawmakers have protested Malaysia’s upgrade.
In May, Malaysian authorities found abandoned jungle camps used by human traffickers that contained more than 100 graves suspected of containing Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.