Saturday, 27 June 2009

Workshop discusses predatory pricing

Written by Nguon Sovan
Friday, 26 June 2009

THE US Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored an import anti-dumping workshop on Thursday in Phnom Penh as the government continues drafting legislation to address the issue, the American development agency said in a statement.

"These processes emphasise careful investigation and analysis, transparency, due process and the right to appeal, which protects the interests of importers into Cambodia as well as Cambodian businesses," the statement said.

The workshop kicked off a three-year program which aims to see the Ministry of Commerce complete legal measures for the Kingdom that would be designed to counter the negative effects of imported goods sold at lower than cost price, as well as those which directly damage Cambodian industries.

"The laws are a very important tool for the government to help the private sector - especially small-and-medium enterprises - counter dumping," Sok Sopheak, director general of the Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday.

"So far we haven't carried out investigations on anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguards because we haven't had the laws yet."

The legislation is a requirement of the World Trade Organisation which Cambodia joined in 2004.

"Currently there are no trade remedy laws, so this is a flaw in that foreign products can be dump sold here ... it damages local enterprises," he said.

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