Cambodia

This page gathers key information on Cambodia's negotiations to join the WTO. Cambodia became the 148th member of the WTO on 13 October 2004. Cambodia is the second LDC to join the WTO through the full working party negotiation process.

Page for Cambodia as a Member

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Accession status:

Member

Current status in the accession process

I. Overview

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Application received	08/12/1994	PC/W/19
Accession Working Party established	21/12/1994	PC/M/11
Terms of Reference & accession Working Party membership	11/04/1995	WT/ACC/CAM/1
	29/05/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/1 + (revisions)~updated

Chairpersons

Order	Presiding between	Chairperson
Order	Between dates 01/1995 - 01/2003	Chairperson Mr. Andrea Meloni (Italy)

Formal meetings

	Date of the meeting	Convening notice	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
1st	Date of the meeting 22/05/2001	Convening notice WTO/AIR/1552	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
2nd	Date of the meeting 14/02/2002	Convening notice WTO/AIR/1710	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation WT/ACC/KHM/11	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
3rd	Date of the meeting 14/11/2002	Convening notice WTO/AIR/1960	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
4th	Date of the meeting 16/04/2003	Convening notice WTO/AIR/2066	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item
5th	Date of the meeting 22/07/2003	Convening notice WTO/AIR/2148	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation	Statement(s) by Working Party members	Delegation list	Other documents for the meeting	News item News item

Plurilateral Meetings

	Date of the meeting	Convening notice	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation
	Date of the meeting	Convening notice	Statement(s) by the Head of the Delegation

II. Multilateral Negotiations

Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR)	22/06/1999	WT/ACC/KHM/2
Initial cycle(s) of Questions and Replies, following the circulation of the MFTR	04/01/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/3
	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/6 (+ corrigendum)
	29/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/12
Factual Summary of Points Raised	30/10/2002
Additional Questions & Replies	03/03/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/20
Elements of a Draft Report of the Working Party
Draft Report of the Working Party	24/03/2003	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/4 (+ revisions)
Agriculture including Questions & Replies (WT/ACC/22/Add.1)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/3 (+ revisions & addendum)
SPS Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/9
TBT Checklist (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/8
TRIPS Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/7 (+ revisions)
Import Licensing Procedures Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)	31/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/17 (+ revision)
Customs Valuation Checklist (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)
State-Trading Questionnaire (WT/ACC/22 + revisions)
Draft Subsidies Notification (WT/ACC/22/Add.2)
Legislative Action Plan (LAP)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/10 (+ revisions)
Rule-specific Action Plans	26/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/13 (Cutoms Valuation) (+ revision)
	26/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/14 (TBT Specific) (+ revision)
	26/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/15 (SPS Specific) (+ revision)
	26/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/16 (IP Specific) (+ revision)

Legislation and implementing regulations

	Legislation notice	Notified legislation
16/05/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/3/Add.3	Kingdom of Cambodia Sechdey Samrech on the "Establishment of Joint Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Prevention of Illegal Fisheries Infractions on Cambodian Territorial Seas" No. 18/SSR/RGC of 3 April 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on the "Amendment of Anu-Kret No. 51/ANK/BK on the Organization and Functioning of the Council for the Development of Cambodia" No. 048/ANK/BK of 21 May 1999 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on the "Creation of a National Permanent Commission for Coordinating the Privatization and the Promotion of Rubber Plantations" No. 52/ANK/BK of 6 September 1994 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on "Measures Restricting Certain Investment Sectors" No. 80/ANK/BK of 27 August 1999 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on the "Implementation of the Law on Investment of the Kingdom of Cambodia" No. 88/ANK/BK of 29 December 1997 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on "Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Contract" No. 11/ANK/BK of 13 February 1998 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on "Forest Management Concessions" No. 05/ANK/BK of 7 February 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Anu-Kret on "Standards and Management of Agricultural Materials" No. 69/ANK/BK of 28 October 1998 Kingdom of Cambodia Preah Reach Kram "Law on the Amendments of Articles 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 42 and 44 of Chapter 2, Articles 54, 57 and 58 of Chapter 4 and Articles 59 and 60 of Chapter 5 of the Law on the Commercial Rules and Commerce Register" No. NS/RKM/1199/12 of 18 November 1999 "Law on Criminal Procedure" of 28 January 1993 Decision on the "Provisions Relating to the Judiciary and Criminal Law and Procedure Applicable in Cambodia During the Transitional Period" of 10 September 1992 Ministry of Commerce Prakas (Declaration) on the "Issuance of the Certificate of Origin, Commercial Invoice and Export Licence for Garments" No. 1437/MOC/PRK of 21 June 1999 Ministry of Commerce Prakas "Amending and Supplementing the Issuance of Certificates of Origin, Commercial Invoices and Export Licenses for Exported Garments" No. 3413/MOC of 29 October 1999 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Banking License Incorporated Under Domestic Law" No. Thor.796-153 Bis Pra.Kar of 25 Octrober 1996 Kingdom of Cambodia Prakas of the Council for Development of Cambodia on the "Provision of Customs Duty Exemption Incentives for Support Industries in Subsequent Years and Authorization for Shares Transfer No. 2895/99/CDC of 9 December 1999 Kingdom of Cambodia Schdey Chun Damneng (Notification) of the Council for the Development of Cambodia on "Investment Enterprises" No. 822/00 CDC of 23 March 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Sarachor Nernoam (Circular) of the Council for the Development of Cambodia on "Procedures for Non-Performing Investment Enterprises" No. 748/00 CDC of 15 March 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Sechdkey Chun Damneng (Notice) of the Council for the Development of Cambodia on the "Payment of Tax Debt Owed by Investment Enterprises in the Kingdom of Cambodia" No. 538/00 CDC of 22 February 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Sarachor Nernoam (Instructing Circular) of the Council for the Development of Cambodia on the "Management and Usage of CDC/CIB Investment Incentives by Investment Enterprises" No. 165/00 CDC of 20 January 2000 Kingdom of Cambodia Council for the Development of Cambodia "Notification on Requirement to all Foreign Entities Accompany with Evidence of Innocence for Filling Application Form" No. 2736/99 CDC of 19 November 1999 Kingdom of Cambodia Council for the Development of Cambodia Sechdkey Chun Damneng (Notice) on the "Obligations to Provide Information Regarding the Import and Export Activities of Investment Enterprises" No. 1538/99 CDC of 1 July 1999 Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), Cambodian Investment Board (CIB) and Department of Investment Procedures and Law "Document Required to Apply for the Cancellation of an Investment Enterprise from the CIB Investment List", "Document Required for an Investment Enterprise Application for Shares Transfer and Deposit of a New Memorandum and Articles of Association", "Document Required to Apply for Name Change of an Investment Enterprise", "Document Required to Apply for Location Change of the Investment Enterprise" of 21 August 1998 Ministry of Commerce Prakas on "Trading Activities of Commercial Companies" No. 017/PRK/MoC of 25 January 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Controlling Bank's Large Exposures" No. NBC/B700/52 of 17 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Structure of the Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia and Roles/Duties of its Subordinated Offices" No. B8/99/140 of 21 December 1999 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Management of Gemstone and Valuable Metal Businesses" No. NBC/999/100 of 10 September 1999 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "the Licensing of Banks" No. NBC/B700/04 of 10 January 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Classification of and Provisioning for Bad and Doubtful Debts, Including Interest in Suspense" No. NBC/B700/51 of 17 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Accounting Process for Foreign Currency Transactions", No. NBC/B700/50 of 17 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Banks' Net Worth Calculation" No. NBC/B700/47 of 16 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Banks' Solvency Ratio", No. NBC/B700/46 of 16 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Liquidity for Banks and Micro Financing Institutions" No. NBC/B700-08 of 9 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Banks' Minimum Capital" No. NBC/B700/39 of 9 February 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on "Licensing of Rural Credit Specialized Banks" No. NBC/B700/05 of 1 January 2000 National Bank of Cambodia Prakas on the "Licensing of Micro-Financing Institutions" No. NBC/B700/06 of 11 January 2000 "Law on the Press" of 18 July 1995 "Law on Nationality" of 20 August 1996 "Law on the Management of Pharmaceuticals" of 9 May 1996 Preah Reach Kram (Royal Decree) on the "Law on the Organisation and Functioning of the National Bank of Cambodia" No. 0196/27 of 26 January 1996 Preah Reach Kram on the "Law on the Management of Quality and Safety Products and Services" No. NS/RKM/0600/001 of 2 June 2000 Preah Reach Kram on the "Law on Banking and Financial Institutions" No. NS/RKM/1199/13 of 19 October 1999 Royal Decree on the "Law on the Suppression of Gamblings" No. NS/R. Decr/0196/28 of 26 January 1996 Preah Reach Kram on the "Law on Foreign Exchange" No. CS/RKM/0897/03 of 22 August 1997 "Law on Immigration" of 26 August 1994 "Law on the Investment of the Kingdom of Cambodia" of 4 August 1994 "Law on the Chambers of Commerce" of 16 May 1995 "Law Bearing Upon Commercial Regulations and the Commercial Register" of 3 May 1995 "Law on Taxation" of 8 January 1997 "Labour Law" of 13 March 1997 "Law on the Bar" of 15 June 1995 "Insurance Law" No. NS/RKM/0700/02 of 20 June 2000 Anu-Kret (Sub-Decree) on the "Organization and Functioning of the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) of 26 June 1995
17/10/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/5	Land Law (Unofficial English Translation) Draft Law of Personal Property Leasing Draft Law of Secured Translations Draft Insolvency Law Draft Water Supply Law Draft Law on Copyright and Related Rights Draft Highway Code Draft Law on Water Resources Management Draft Patent Utility Law Draft Telecom Act Draft Tourism Law Explanatory Notes to the Law of Commercial Contracts of April 2001
29/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/12/Add.1	Prakas on the Implementation of the Pre-Shipment Inspection Service of 31 August 2000.
11/11/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/19	Revised Draft Law on Copyright and Related Rights dated May 2002 Revised Draft Insolvency Law dated July 2002 Revised Draft Tourism Law dated 23 May 2002 Draft Water Supply and Sanitation Regulatory Law Draft Law on Customs dated 15 August 2002 Draft Amendment of the Law on Investment dated 29 March 2002 Draft Law on Negotiable Instruments and Payment Transactions dated September 2002 Draft Law on the Protection of Patents, Utility Model Certificates and Industrial Designs dated 12 October 2001 Draft Law on Fisheries Draft Sub-Decree on Plant Quarantine Draft Sub-decree on Sanitary Inspection of Animal and Animal Products dated 11 June 2002 Draft Sub-Decree on Insurance dated 21 September 2002 Law on Corporate Accounts, Their Audit and The Accounting Profession Law on Forestry dated August 2002 Draft Civil Code dated 3 September 2002 Decision on the Establishment of the Inquiry Points for (1) Services, (2) SPS, (3) TBT Legal compliance with WTO agreements dated 26 July 2002 Financial Blueprint of the Royal Government of Cambodia (2001-2010) — file 1 Financial Blueprint of the Royal Government of Cambodia (2001-2010) — file 2
19/11/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/19/Add.1	Cambodia's Customs Tariff 2001
03/03/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/20/Add.1	Draft Civil Code
17/03/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/20/Add.2	Draft of the Code of Civil Procedure of Cambodia

Consultation documents

	Consultation notice	Notified consultation document
11/01/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/3/Add.1	Customs Tariff of Cambodia
08/01/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/3/Add.2	List of Laws and Legislation
16/05/2001	WT/ACC/KHM/4 (+ revision)	Checklist of documents
15/02/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/11	Speech at the opening of the 2nd Working Party Meeting on the Accession of Cambodia to the WTO by H.E. Mr. CHAM Prasidh, Minister of Commerce and Head of the Cambodian Delegation Geneva, 14 February 2002
31/07/2002	WT/ACC/KHM/18	Descriptive Note on Implementation of VAT

III. Bilateral Market Access Negotiations

Goods Offer(s)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/1 (+ revisions)
Services Offer(s)	11/12/2001	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/2 (+ revisions)
Register of Bilateral Market Access Agreements		Register
Draft Goods Schedule	22/07/2003	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/5 (+ revisions)
Draft Services Schedule	18/07/2003	WT/ACC/SPEC/KHM/6 (+ revisions)
Goods and Services Technical Verification Meetings

IV. Accession Package (“Terms of Accession”, de-restricted)

Ministerial Conference/General Council Decision on the Accession	11/09/2003	WT/MIN(03)/18
Protocol of Accession	11/09/2003	WT/MIN(03)/18
Report of the Working Party	15/08/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/21
Goods Schedule (Schedule of Concessions and Commitments Annexed to the GATT 1994)	18/08/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/21/Add.1
Services Schedule (Schedule of Specific Commitments Annexed to the GATS)	19/08/2003	WT/ACC/KHM/21/Add.2

V. Instrument of Acceptance

Notification of Acceptance and Entry Into Force of the Protocol of Accession

13/09/2004

WT/LET/480

VI. Date of Membership: on the 13/10/2004, Cambodia became the 148th WTO member.

News item

VII. Since 1995, this is the 20th economy that joined the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement.

All documents on the accession of Cambodia in Documents Online by date of circulation

Note:

The de-restriction of documents is a key component of the transparency obligations of the Multilateral Trading System. Paragraphs 1 and 2(e) of the Ministerial Council Decision WT/L/452 of 14 May 2002 provide that “documents relating to working parties on accession shall be restricted and shall be automatically de-restricted upon the adoption of the report of the working party” by the Ministerial Conference/General Council. The time of completion of the de-restriction process depends on the amount and complexities of the documents involved. Prior to 2002, the de-restriction of accession-related documents was governed by a different set of rules (i.e. General Council Decision WT/L/160/Rev.1 of 26 July 1996), which only affect documents circulated prior to 2002.

Cambodia

Cambodia

Current status in the accession process

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