Reduced government fees on mandatory scanning of rice container shipments, which went into effect this week, will shave a few dollars off each shipment, helping rice producers lower costs in a highly competitive international market.

Moul Sarith, secretary-general of the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF), said yesterday that the Ministry of Economy and Finance agreed to slash the costs on container scans at ports by 50 percent in response to a CRF request to reduce costs for rice exporters.

Under the new scheme, the ministry has reduced the fee on scans of containerised rice shipments from $32 to $16 for 40-foot containers, and down from $20 to $10 for containers under 40 feet. The new prices were rolled out on Tuesday and will stay in effect until the end of 2018.

“This is a helpful policy for the rice industry as we are facing high costs when exporting,” said Sarith.

“We still hope that the ministry will continue to consider reducing other payments related to costs of production in order to promote rice exports and keep the industry afloat.”