Cambodia’s General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) last week issued guidance to help the ailing shipping and garment sectors with raw material supply from China drying up. Officers were instructed to facilitate shipments for firms complying with rules and those in special economic zones (SEZs), and the green lane customs clearance system has been extended as well. The measures follow Prime Minister Hun Sen’s announcement that the government has drafted a plan to support businesses in the garment and tourism sectors as they grapple with the consequences of the European Union’s partial withdrawal of the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme and the novel coronavirus outbreak in China. GDCE asked officers to work more efficiently, act with professionalism and cooperate closely with SEZs, ports and airports authorities and transportation companies, according to report in a Cambodian newspaper. “We ask all customs officers to be more efficient in their work and speed up paperwork for the importation of raw material for garment factories. All the customs officers must follow the new guidelines with immediate effect,” GDCE said. The Chinese embassy in Cambodia said about 60 per cent of raw materials used in local garment and footwear factories come from China. Ten factories in Cambodia have already run out of raw materials as suppliers in China close due to the virus outbreak, the government announced recently. In March, the country could see as many as 200 factories and enterprises running out of raw materials, affecting around 160,000 workers.
