Import ban on petrol aims at plugging leaks
Cambodia will prohibit land-based imports of refined petroleum products from January 1 to eliminate smuggling along the country’s borders and improve the efficiency of customs revenue collection, officials said on December 29. According to the General Department of Customs and Excise, which announced the ban on December 20, transportation infrastructure already in place in the Kingdom allows petroleum companies that import their products by sea to distribute them nationwide, effectively eliminating the need for land-based imports. A GDCE official, who declined to be named, explained on December 29 that the import ban was unlikely to affect the supply or price of petrol in Cambodia as the major distribution companies receive their bulk petroleum shipments by sea. “When we allowed land-based imports, there were many cases of smuggling,” he said. “With the new ban, the country’s petroleum distribution will be easier to manage and it will help the department get more revenue from customs.”
