Cambodia: Import ban on petrol aims at plugging leaks

Cambodia: Import ban on petrol aims at plugging leaks

Cambodia will prohibit land-based imports of refined petroleum products from
January 1 to eliminate smuggling along the country's borders and improve the
efficiency of customs revenue collection, officials said yesterday.

According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), which
announced the ban on December 20, transportation infrastructure already in
place in the Kingdom allows petroleum companies that import their products
by sea to distribute them nationwide, effectively eliminating the need for
land-based imports.

A GDCE official, who declined to be named, explained yesterday that the
import ban was unlikely to affect the supply or price of petrol in Cambodia
as the major distribution companies receive their bulk petroleum shipments
by sea.

"When we allowed land-based imports, there were many cases of smuggling," he
said. "With the new ban, the country's petroleum distribution will be easier
to manage and it will help the department get more revenue from customs."

According to the Ministry of Commerce, 2.55 million tonnes of petroleum were
imported in 2015, a 64 percent increase from the previous year.

Soeng Sophary, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said the ministry
did not distinguish between land or sea-based imports in its figures, but
said the opportunities for smuggling are much greater over land.

"We hope this new strategy will help the government manage the petroleum
industry more efficiently," she said.

Bin Many Mialia, marketing manager of PTT Cambodia, one of the country's
largest petroleum importers and distributors, welcomed the government's
deployment of the new measure, saying that decreasing smuggling will help
level the playing field for petroleum distributors.

"We always want to have more transparency in the industry where all
companies pay custom taxes," he said. "If everyone pays taxes, it creates a
fair system that benefits the country overall."

However, smuggling still occurs by sea, and on a much larger scale, claims
Yim Sovann, spokesperson for the Cambodia National Rescue Party. He added
that the government was not intent on reducing the scale of smuggling
because of the corruption associated with large-scale imports.

"The issue is not about importing petrol on land versus water, the issue is
that customs officials have no willingness to reduce smuggling," he said.
"The issue is still about corruption, nepotism and a lack of political will
to resolve the problem."

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/import-ban-petrol-aims-plugging-leaks

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com