The General Department of Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Repression (CCF) will enforce new labelling requirements for products and services from January 1. It appealed to businesses across the country to cooperate with the work.
The CCF issued the appeal following a December 23 meeting with representatives from Goodhill Enterprise (Cambodia) Ltd, to discuss the changes.
“We initially adopted a soft approach so we could resolve the problems or challenges that some enterprises encountered as they adapted to the new requirements,” said a CCF public statement.
It announced that every product on the market must be labelled with a description of the item and its contents in Khmer.
The description must use a font size which is appropriate to the size of packaging, and must be easily read.
Imported products with non-Khmer packaging must have new labels which meet the requirements affixed to them, whether as stickers or tags.
The notice read that trademarks and brand names in a foreign language are acceptable, providing they are registered with the Ministry of Commerce and meet other regulatory requirements.
“Descriptions of products, commodities and services must include ingredients, expiration dates, the address of the manufacturer or importer, functions, instructions and storage recommendations, if appropriate. The labels may not include misleading claims or untrue statements,” it added.
CCF director-general Phan Oun told The Post that from January 1, department officials who were empowered as judicial police will take legal action to enforce the regulations.
He said that some companies had requested exemptions for products that were imported on a small scale.
“We require all importers, distributors and manufacturers in Cambodia to follow the law, although we are having discussions regarding some exceptional conditions,” he said.
“We are considering their requests, as when the number of imported items is limited, it is inefficient, and not cost-effective, to alter their registration. We are examining the requests and will issue further guidelines in due course,” he continued.
He explained that before the measures were implemented, the CCF had provided four months notice to traders, producers, service providers and importers who conduct business in the Kingdom, so they had time to fulfil the new requirements.
Oun expected that they would cooperate and follow the notice in the most stringent way.
“The new labelling requirements are in the best interests of consumers. They ensure fair and honest competition in business, in keeping with Cambodia’s respect for the rule of law,” he said.
