The Council of Ministers on May 19 approved the draft rule-of-origin law, which commerce minister Pan Sorasak is confident will substantially promote Cambodia’s international trade.

Comprising nine chapters and 35 articles, the draft law was passed during a meeting of the council – also called the Cabinet – and will now be sent to the National Assembly for consideration in the near future.

Speaking at the May 19 meeting, Sorasak commented that the bill is to set rules and procedures for identifying the origins of imported and exported merchandise, in a bid to stimulate trade under and outside of preferential trading regimes.

It will facilitate origin verification procedures for domestically-made goods, boost the Kingdom’s exports, and provide anti-counterfeit protection, he said.

“The draft rule-of-origin law is an addition to existing legal provisions in the commercial and economic sectors that will bring them into conformity with ASEAN and WTO [World Trade Organisation] regulations,” Sorasak said.

The minister presented the bill as a key facet of the global legal system that complements Cambodia’s bilateral, regional and multilateral free trade agreements (FTA), such as the deals with China (CCFTA) and South Korea (CKFTA) as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).