The General Department of Customs and Excise has lifted the ban and requirement for permission from the Ministry of Health to export all types of masks.

It said the government had stocked enough masks to be used for the Covid-19 outbreak in Cambodia.

A letter from the department dated May 4 said the government is capable of controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the Kingdom.

“The General Department of Customs and Excise decided to temporally lift the ban and requirement to obtain permission from the Ministry of Health to export all types of masks,” the letter said, adding that the measures would take effect immediately.

Department director Kun Nhem told The Post on Tuesday that some companies had produced masks for export to the US and the EU, and lifting of the ban would help them.

“In the past, we restricted the export of masks because we felt the masks produced in the Kingdom should be kept for use in Cambodia. But now we have enough masks, and we have the virus under control,” he said.

While he said he did not have an exact figure of masks avalable in the Kingdom, he suspects there are millions.

He said since international garment orders have dried up, companies have started to produce masks to keep workers employed.

The demand for masks, he said, has increased in the US, Australia and Germany, among other European countries.

In late March, the department took measures to prevent the spread of the virus and required companies to obtain permission from the health ministry before exporting certain products such as alcohol sanitisers, sanitiser gels, and all types of masks.

Companies also needed permission to import these products.

Ministry secretary of state York Sambath said in April that Cambodia had 11 million masks available, which was enough to meet the country’s demand.