The National Assembly on Monday overwhelmingly passed a new Law on Quality of Goods and Services, which supporters say will help investors have more confidence in Cambodia.
Ninety-three out of 98 lawmakers voted in favor of the law, which had been debated during the last Assembly session that ended in December. The debate last year was delayed several times in favor of other legislation.
Sok Siphana, secretary of state for the Ministry of Commerce, thanked the Assembly for passing the bill, and stressed that Cambodia needs such a law to be taken seriously in the global economy.
“This law is extremely needed to give us more weapons to control the quality of goods and services more efficiently,” Sok Siphana said.
He said the legislation conforms with international standards on quality control of goods. The law establishes a laboratory to assess the quality of Cambodian goods for local and international markets.
Provisions also include maximum punishments of a one-year prison sentence and a fine of more than $2,600 for those found in violation of the law.
Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, who is chairman of the Assembly’s Public Works, Transport and Commerce Commission, also was pleased with the law’s passage.
“I am very glad this law got approved after it took two years, two millenniums and two centuries for debate,” Son Chhay quipped, noting the several delays of passage of the legislation. He said without quality control, Cambodia is a “trash bin” of poor quality goods.
“This law will make the country look as good as other countries in terms of goods control,” Son Chhay said.
