The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) office. Heng Chivoan
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) has launched a mobile app of the Cambodia Customs Tariff for 2022 to make it easier for businesspeople to calculate import duties and taxes, and identify goods by category and restriction status.
The app also aims to boost the efficiency of trade arrangements, the GDCE said in a statement on February 4.
GDCE spokesman Keam Chankosal told The Post that the app also promotes the implementation of the “Cambodia Customs Tariff for 2022”, revised from the 2017 edition, which he said is consistent with the other nine ASEAN countries and other World Customs Organisation (WCO) member states.
“Businesspeople will not have to buy the customs tariff books and carry them along. As long as they have smart devices, they can browse anywhere.
“And this is also part of the customs administration’s technology adoption initiatives, to help raise awareness and provide convenience to businesspeople, when it comes to completing customs procedures,” he said.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng told The Post that the app is precisely what investors and other private sector actors want, providing ample information on import procedures and generally making things easier for businesses.
He noted that investors would often spend lots of time and money on customs inquiries, with many necessary pieces of information not easily available.
“A mobile app that we can check by phone would of course make things very easy for exporters and importers to find the information quickly.
“Things used to be quite tough, with businesspeople wanting to import goods having to check tariff lists – and there’d be no value listed for the taxes – sometimes goods would even be banned, causing loss of money and time,” Heng said.
He requested the GDCE tighten controls and ward off the smuggling of goods, prevent collusion involving influential people at border checkpoints, and bar deleterious or illegal goods from circulating in the Cambodia market that could undermine local products.
Cambodia Logistics Association (CLA) president Sin Chanthy noted that the customs tariffs and related subjects have always been compiled into a book that is given to the association for reference.
The app will make it easier to complete customs formalities and access information faster, saving time and money, Chanthy said, adding that the association will spread the word through its members.
“We expect this app to run smoothly and without interruption, especially with timely responses from customs to inquiries from importers.”
