IMMIGRATION
TERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR IMMIGRANT FOREIGN NATIONAL AND PERMANENT RESIDENCE CARDS, Prakas № 5671 of the Ministry of Interior (“MOI”), dated 01 July 2019.
The purpose of this Prakas is to terminate applications for immigrant foreign national and permanent residence cards as set out in Clause 3 of the Prakas No. 4504, dated 11 September 2017, on Formalities, Procedures, Review and Registration for the Recognition of Immigrant Foreign Nationals in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Prakas No. 4504”), effective from 1 July 2019 onward. Additionally, Prakas No. 4504 is superseded by the issuance of this Prakas.
ISSUANCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATES OF CIVIL STATUS TO CAMBODIAN SPOUSES, CHILDREN AND IMMIGRANT FOREIGN NATIONALS, Guideline № 015 of the MOI, dated 1 July 2019.
This Guideline was issued to address situations in which local administrations were reluctant to issue administrative documents or certificates of civil status to: (1) Cambodian spouses, their children and immigrant foreign nationals whose (unusual) Cambodian administrative documents were rejected and forfeited by the municipal/provincial Census and Foreigner Control Committee; and (2) foreign nationals who obtained the status of immigrant foreign nationals and secured permanent residence cards from the MOI. Therefore, to improve administrative services for these individuals, the MOI has instructed local administrations and the national police authorities at all levels to implement the following:
(1) issue birth certificates, copies of birth certificates or letters certifying birth, residence books (K2), family books (K4) to Cambodian families and family members covered under records relating to forfeiture of their (unusual) Cambodian administrative documents issued by the team in charge of the document forfeiture at the General Department of Immigration, upon their request;
(2) issue birth certificates, copies of birth certificates or letters certifying birth, death certificates, residence books (K2), letters certifying attitude, residency letters or other certification letters in response to the requirements of the relevant ministries and entities to foreign nationals holding permanent residence cards, upon their request. For the minor children of foreign nationals, the application must be attached with the proclamation on recognition of the immigrant foreign nationals and permanent residence cards of their parents;
(3) to issue the letters as mentioned above in accordance with applicable formalities, procedures and regulations; and
(4) permanent residence cards may be used in daily life and to receive administrative services and public services, except for those rights not extended to foreigners under applicable law.
PHAMARCEUTICAL AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS
ONLINE REGISTRATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS, FOREIGN ENTERPRISES MANUFACTURING PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS, Prakas № 2387 of the Ministry of Health (“MOH”), dated 12 July 2019.
This Prakas aims to determine the procedures and formalities on the use of the Cambodian Pharmaceutical Online Registration System (“CamPORS”) which encompasses registration of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics and foreign enterprises that manufacture pharmaceutical products (“Foreign PMEs”) and cosmetics.
For the purposes of this Prakas, the term ‘pharmaceutical products’ refers to modern medicines, traditional medicines, cosmetics, vaccines, health supplement products, health supporting products, medical equipment and reagents. Furthermore, an ‘enterprise’ refers to enterprises making pharmaceutical products (“PMEs”), enterprises manufacturing cosmetics (“CMEs”), pharmaceutical import-export establishments (“PIEEs”) and cosmetic import-export establishments (“CIEEs”).
According to this Prakas, enterprise owners or their authorized representatives must first apply for the rights to register and use the CamPORS online system via this webpage: ddf.moh.gov.kh, following which, they will be entitled to apply (with the required supporting documents) for registration of Foreign PMEs, pharmaceutical products, and cosmetics through CamPORS.
For successful applications, the MOH will issue pharmaceutical product registration certificates, cosmetic registration certificates and foreign PME registration certificates in a new format with QR Codes certifying the relevant details. Enterprise owners and representative offices must publish or affix the QR Code to the packaging or labels of pharmaceutical products and cosmetic products prior to distributing them on the market.
Nonetheless, during the transitional period of implementing the new online system, this Prakas permits enterprises and the representative offices to continue registering the pharmaceutical products and cosmetic products through the existing system until 30 April 2020.
OIL AND GAS
PROMULGATION OF THE LAW ON OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MANAGEMENT, Royal Kram No. NS/RKM/0719/006 (Royal Palace) 12 July 2019
On 12 July 2019 the Law on Oil and Petroleum Products Management (“Petroleum Law”) was enacted and became effective in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The objective of the Petroleum Law is to promote sustainable and efficient petroleum sector development and management so that the sector contributes to the socio-economic growth and long-term interests of the country.
The Petroleum Law states that all petroleum resources are the property of the State and the Ministry of Mines and Energy is the competent authority of the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) charged with oversight of all petroleum activities in Cambodia including the creation of a master plan governing the transportation and distribution of petroleum and natural gas pipeline and distribution network.
The Petroleum Law requires upstream and downstream activities to be conducted through separate entities with upstream activities defined as the prospecting, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and downstream activities defined as the treatment, transportation, and storage of petroleum and petroleum products, except for the sale and exportation of petroleum in accordance with a petroleum agreement.
All activities for exploration, development, and petroleum production are required to have a petroleum agreement that includes provisions such as, inter alia, the participating interest of the State; the likely revenue generated for the State; the contract area and any conditions related to relinquishments of portions of the area; the distribution chain; conditions for sale or transfer of the participating interest; any obligations to use domestic labor, goods, or services; environmental restoration obligations; and the term of the petroleum agreement. A petroleum agreement may have a maximum initial validity period of 30 years from the date of execution of petroleum agreement and further are eligible for an extension of up to 15 years with the exploration period not entitled to exceed 10 years.
The RGC may require the contractor on a petroleum agreement to supply up to 25% of its petroleum products to meet domestic need and, in case of emergency, the export of petroleum resources may be prohibited.
The Petroleum Law provides that many of the conditions and procedures in respect of, for example, selection of a contractor of a petroleum agreement; the extension of a petroleum agreement; suspension and termination of petroleum activities; and the regulatory approvals required for downstream activities will be determined by one or more implementing sub-decrees, a piece of governmental ordinance that clarifies and elaborates upon provisions of an existing law.
Should you have any queries or concerns on the implications of the Petroleum Law on your distribution rights of petroleum products in Cambodia or rights under an existing petroleum agreement with the RGC, please contact us at cambodia@dfdl.com.
The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situation.
For further inquiries, please contact cambodia@dfdl.com.
