PM scraps rice-export licences to boost trade

Prime Minister Hun Sen at the launch of the Government-Private Sector Forum, held in Phnom Penh Tuesday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Wednesday, 28 April 2010
By Chun Sophal and May Kunmakara
The Phnom Penh Post

Hun Sen calls food-security measure a ‘barrier’ for rice traders

PRIME Minister Hun Sen axed rice export licences Tuesday in a bid to boost sales of the Kingdom’s “white gold”.

In a move widely welcomed by the business community, the premier ordered a 2008 circular to be cancelled. The document ordered would-be exporters to apply to a Ministry of Commerce-run company called Green Trade for a permit.

“We have to nullify applications for licences to export rice from Cambodia through the Green Trade Company now,” Hun Sen said at a Government-Private Sector Forum in Phnom Penh. “It is barrier for all rice traders at the moment,” he added.

The circulation, numbered 02, was issued in 2008, as food security concerns spread throughout the world. All traders who wanted to sell more than 200 tonnes of the grain had to apply for a permit, in an attempt to secure Cambodia's rice and paddy supply.

Now, Hun Sen believes export obstacles will exist unless the circulation is nullified.

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