CAMBODIA Country Profile

Customs Administration

Individual Corruption

According to the Centre for Social Development 2005, the customs authorities are viewed as highly corrupt, and they are suspected of ignoring the activities of smugglers or even being paid off by them.

Business Corruption

Global Integrity 2008 states that burdensome customs regulation provides opportunities for custom officers to demand bribes from companies. Custom officers enforce custom regulations discriminatorily, for instance by treating companies that are not prone to corruption or who offer less, differently than those that are willing to pay.

According to the Economic Institute of Cambodia 2006, companies perceive the Cambodian customs officers to be highly corrupt. They are known to tax imports and exports both formally and informally. For a bribe, customs officials may offer to help reduce the customs burden.

According to businesspeople, customs departments are also infamous for making procedural mistakes and demanding bribes.

Political Corruption

The Prime Minister allegedly shields political allies, such as Mong Reththy, from investigations of illegal business activities. According to the Global Witness 2007 report, Mong Reththy runs the Oknha Mong Port as his own fiefdom. Apparently, the customs officials answer only to him and it is allegedly the port through which large-scale smuggling operations are carried out.

Parallel to their other activities, the elite military unit Brigade 70 runs a transportation service smuggling goods mainly through Oknha Mong and cheating the Cambodian state out of customs revenues. The illegal timber transports and the smuggling operations earn the Brigade approximately USD 2.5 million per year. According to a Global Witness 2007 report, Brigade 70 is transporting other smuggled commodities (such as beer, spirits, perfume, cigarettes, electronics, construction material, clothing, sugar, pharmaceuticals, ice cream) for clients who include both tycoons and very high-ranking government officials.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- A standard export shipment of goods requires 11 documents and takes 22 days at an average cost of USD 732 per container.

- A standard import shipment of goods requires 11 documents and takes 30 days at an average cost of USD 872 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the efficiency of customs procedures (formalities regulating the entry and exit of merchandise) in Cambodia a score of 3.3 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- 43.8% of companies surveyed expect to give gifts in order to obtain an import licence.