UK to implement new trading scheme for Cambodia

Phnom Penh - Cambodia will start benefiting in April from the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), a new type of customs preference unveiled by the European country in August 2022.

British Ambassador to Cambodia Dominic Williams said that the DCTS will replace the former Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and will be put into force in April. Cambodia will automatically be listed as one of the beneficiary countries.

Cambodia already benefits from the UK's GSP which grants exports tariff-free and quota-free access to the UK market.

But the DCTS will replace and improve the former trade preference scheme, with a new approach being taken regarding the origin of the goods exported from Cambodia to the UK, according to the diplomat.

The key change between the two is about rules of origin, said Williams, explaining that the new trade scheme should make it easier for goods that are partially manufactured in Cambodia and partially manufactured in another country to be exported to the UK.

Goods that are 100 per cent manufactured in Cambodia already have tariff-free access to the UK, he stressed.

In 2022, the UK was the final destination of 3.94 per cent of Cambodia’s total exports, according to data from the General Department of Customs and Excises. Most of them were clothing products.

Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Pen Sovicheat said that Cambodia will further boost exports to the UK market through the DCTS, expressing his hope for a rise in the export of agriculture-related products, especially in those with geographical indications (GI), such as the Kampot pepper or palm sugar.

Minister of State Greg Hands of the UK Department for International Trade arrived in Hanoi on February 1 for high-level trade talks on how the UK joining of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will boost the economic firepower of the world’s most dynamic trade bloc, according to the British Embassy.

Britain said Thursday it had paid a whopping £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) to settle a long-running row with the EU, despite having quit the bloc.