Issue Description
The Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI) has established a regulatory framework for vehicle safety standards by adopting United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulations. In June 2016, MISTI issued Prakas No. 150, introducing 19 technical regulations for automotive products. These regulations apply to all entities involved in the production, transformation, importation, advertising, or sale of vehicles in Cambodia. Furthermore, these standards were harmonised at the ASEAN level, requiring licensed producers and distributors to ensure compliance and proper labelling according to Cambodian safety requirements.
Recognising the challenges of enforcing all 19 regulations simultaneously, MISTI issued Prakas No. 99, extending the implementation timeline to December 2019 to provide the automotive industry with greater flexibility. Additionally, MISTI established Prakas No. 266, which outlines a phased, step-by-step implementation approach for vehicle safety standards spanning 2020 to 2024.
EuroCham’s Automotive Committee welcomed the government’s efforts to enhance safety standards and the flexibility granted to authorised distributors. However, a significant gap remains: these regulations apply exclusively to new automotive products, whereas used vehicles continue to be imported and sold in Cambodia without any safety requirements.
Moreover, MISTI’s current regulations lack clear instructions or a formal homologation process for parallel market importers. Without robust procedures and enforcement mechanisms, these regulatory loopholes favour unauthorised markets, allowing vehicles to be distributed with insufficient oversight—ultimately jeopardising consumer safety.
Impact on business
EuroCham’s Automotive Committee appreciates the ongoing efforts of MISTI and the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC) to introduce regulations aimed at promoting homologation in Cambodia. We recognise that these measures primarily intend to ensure user safety.
However, we believe Cambodia will struggle to maintain vehicle safety and roadworthiness as the current regulations offer undue flexibility to unauthorised distributors. Furthermore, there is a distinct lack of robust enforcement. Many parallel and grey-market distributors continue to import new vehicles without applying for safety standard licences, and they fail to display the required safety standard marks on vehicles in their showrooms.
The ISC has conducted inspection visits to the showrooms of several authorised distributors, ostensibly to signal to unauthorised importers that they must begin complying with standard regulations. However, inspecting only authorised distributors will not compel the grey market and parallel importers to follow the law.
While the provisions of Prakas No. 266 and other vehicle safety standards apply only to new cars—which represent approximately 30% of the total market—this limited scope fails to effectively meet the regulation’s objective of promoting roadworthiness and consumer safety. The majority of risks faced by road users stem from used cars or vehicles that do not meet the stringent requirements followed by official distributors. Enforcing regulations primarily on authorised new-car importers only serves to perpetuate an unfair business environment and an unsafe road landscape.
By placing a disproportionate burden on new-car importers, these circumstances inadvertently favour used-car, grey, and parallel importers. Consequently, Cambodia risks losing potential investment in the automotive sector. As authorised distributors, we believe that a level playing field and stronger enforcement would significantly contribute to enhanced safety for all road users.
Recommendation
- Require vehicle safety standards licence issued by the Institute of Standards of Cambodia (ISC) as a mandatory pre-condition for customs import clearance by General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) before the importation of vehicles into Cambodia.
The EuroCham Automotive Committee respectfully requests that the relevant authorities ensure vehicle safety compliance for both new and used vehicle imports. All vehicles entering the Cambodian market should be subject to the same rigorous safety standards; such enforcement is essential to promote a level playing field among all market participants. Specifically, the ISC and the GDCE should ensure that only importers holding a valid safety licence certification are permitted to import vehicles and proceed with customs clearance.
We believe that enforcing these regulations for all importers—including authorised and unauthorised distributors, as well as grey-market and parallel importers—will instill greater confidence in both prospective and existing investors. Furthermore, introducing verification procedures for used-car distributors would significantly reduce the risk of road accidents. We firmly believe that by enforcing these regulations fairly across all import categories, the Royal Government of Cambodia will successfully enhance and maintain safety for all consumers.
Royal government of Cambodia
Initiative from Eurocham: the issue has been raised by Automotive Committee within The White Book edition 2024 in the Recommendation No. 12.
On April 3rd, 2024, EuroCham Cambodia paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Dr. Eang Sophalleth, Minister of Environment. As a representative of the Automotive Committee, Chairman Mr. Chhoeurn Makara addressed one of the concerns outlined in the White Book: the implementation of emission standards.
While Circular 01 introduced Euro4 emission standards enforced since January 2022, theoretically applying to all cars, including both new and used vehicles, in practice, Euro4 emission standards have not yet been applied to used cars. Hence, EuroCham advocates for the enforcement of this circular for all vehicles, as it will be a crucial step to reduce the permissible level of pollution emitted by vehicles and to ensure and promote environmental safety for the country and its citizens.
Featured in WB 2027: this issue has been updated in the Whitebook 2027, for the previous versions, please refer to the Whitebook 2024.
Ministry of Environment: During the courtesy meeting on April 3rd, 2024 , H.E. Dr. Eang Sophalleth, Minister of Environment expressed his full agreement with EuroCham regarding safety standards. He affirmed that the ministry will encourage the use of Euro 4 standard for all vehicles, and further commit to implement Euro5 standards for all cars in the year 2027.
National Counterparts
Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation
Ministry of Environment
Contributors
Mr. Chhoeurn Makara