PHNOM PENH: A draft law on the "protection of plants and phytosanitary" was fully approved by the Cabinet this Friday morning. This law was created to protect Cambodian agricultural interests from losses caused by harmful components of plant resources and crop products.

According to Royal Government Spokesman, Phay Siphan, the draft law was approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen. He added that the enactment of the law will help improve the quality of agricultural products, establish agricultural exports and ensure sustainable development in the context of highly competitive global economic integration.

He continued that the law will protect the interests of farmers through the management of plant protection and the implementation of phytosanitary measures to reduce losses that may be caused by the harmful composition of plant resources and crop products in the agricultural production system. He said it will also support policies and strategies to promote agricultural production, provide clear protections for the protection of plant resources, manage plant health, improve productivity, quality and safety of agricultural products, make them environmentally friendly and sustainable, and also ban the importation of all types of agricultural products that contain harmful components.

He said this draft law would, "In particular, prevent the importation or outbreak of invasive and harmful components that cause catastrophic damage to agricultural crops, biodiversity and the environment in the Kingdom of Cambodia. In fact, the outbreak of pests such as golden snails, coconuts, silver leaf blight on oranges, roses, cassava, yellow leaf blight on cassava and new species of worms on corn has really affected agricultural production and the national economy significantly during the epidemic."

The Spokesman also added that the law will give confidence to trading partners and full strength to open up Cambodia's agricultural export markets with the world's major markets, especially after reaching a Free Trade Agreement with bilateral and multilateral frameworks, to facilitate the export, import and transportation of plant goods and plant products.

Following the approval of the draft law by the Council of Ministers, it will be sent to the National Assembly next week. Currently, Cambodia has established a free trade agreement with China and Korea, in addition to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), which entered into force on 1 January 2022.