Clearance procedure

GDCE operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at the airport and seaport. Cross- border station
workhours are correlated with those of the neighboring country. !ub-Decree prescribes an "-
hour workday including public holidays that can be e#tended o$ernight if needed. %he other
agencies are co$ered by this but they are not present at all ti&es. 'anking ser$ices are also not
always a$ailable. (e$ertheless, the )ri&e *inister and Director-General issued directi$es that
Custo&s ser$ice be pro$ided to the pri$ate sector if and when such re+uests are &ade.
!,-(./01,22E ).3% )3.CED/3E!
t !ihanouk$ille seaport, there are 4 tea&s that handle reporting and control of cargo, declaration
processing, transit operations, accounting and ad&inistration, i.e. the Custo&s 5or&ality, cti$e,
6arehouse, E#a&ination, and Entrance7E#it %ea&s. ,&port procedures are as follows 8GDCE
nne# 4, 299:;<
=. /pon arri$al of the $essel at the port, 0*!' 8the go$ern&ent-owned shipping
agent for &arine cargo; infor&s Custo&s, Ca&control, and ,&&igration )olice.
2. %he Custo&s Chief assigns 2 officers to the boarding co&&ittee or 5or&ality
%ea&, which includes 0*!', Ca&control, )ort uthority, ,&&igration )olice, and
>uarantine. 0*!' pro$ides a total of ? copies of the &anifest and related docu&ents
to the %ea& &e&bers, which boards the $essel. %he %ea& breaks up to carry out their
respecti$e functions in for&al clearance of the $essel and crew. %he ship captain
pro$ides the &anifest and bills of lading to Custo&s, which sta&ps the& recei$ed. Crew
lists and declarations are e#a&ined by Custo&s and the $essel@s stores are sealed.
:. fter $essel for&alities, Custo&s authoriAes unloading of cargo. %he cti$e %ea&
that includes 0*!' and )ort uthority, &onitors unloading, checks cargo against the
&anifest, and $erifies the condition of seals.
4. Cargo is stored in the warehouse and recei$ed by the operator. 6hile awaiting
their i&porter they are under the responsibility of the warehouse operator and 6arehouse
%ea&, which also controls cargo in the yard. co&puter register of all cargo is
&aintained by both the operator and Custo&s. Goods are allowed 44 days storage,
beyond which a daily penalty of =B of the $alue is e#acted. Goods stored beyond :
&onths are transferred to the Custo&s warehouse.
4. ,&porters lodge three copies of the declaration with supporting docu&ents such
as co&&ercial in$oice, packing list, bill of lading, ,&port license 8if re+uired;, 3eport of
5inding 83.5; if an i&port 5.' $alue greater than /!D 4,999.99 and other docu&ents if
any.
C. t the clearance point, the declaration is registered with a se+uential nu&ber that
is uni+ue to an indi$idual entry processing unit. : copies of the entry are sub&itted to the
clearance point with in$oice, bill of lading, packing listD one copy is kept at clearance
point, one goes to audit tea& at head+uarters, one to the i&porter. Declaration
infor&ation is $alidated and scrutiniAed. 8CED nne# ? 299:; %he Ca&control for& is
also attached to the declaration.
7. fter assess&ent, i&porters pay duties in cash or bank guarantee either at the
accounts section, or treasury in )hno& )enh which issues a receipt. !torage fees are
also paid for.
". %he Custo&s E#a&ination %ea& inspects the goods si&ultaneously with
Ca&control. Cargo is classified into : categories based on risk assess&ent< 8a; !ealed
)!, containers are not e#a&ined unless there is reason to suspect irregularities. .n a
selecti$e basis, a &a#i&u& of 4B of containers is to be checked in detail. %his was
i&ple&ented since ugust 2992. 8b; =99B of containers that bypass )!, are subEect to
detailed inspection. 8c; "9B of in$est&ent co&pany goods are inspected. ,n Fune 2992 a
%C-!can &achine was installed to reduce physical inspection.
?. Goods are released. Containers are loaded on trucks for transport to )hno&
)enh. Custo&s Entrance7E#it %ea& checks docu&ents and receipts to $erify pay&ent,
and &atches container nu&bers against ship &anifests.
o Copies of the entry are dispatched to the head+uarters Control .ffice which is
responsible for post-entry audit. 8CED 299:;
TOMNOP ROLORK PORT PROCEDURES
*ost of cargo arri$e at the %o&nop 3olork )ort are s&all cargo boats fro& %hailand and 1iet
(a&, so cargo &anifest is not re+uired. (or&ally, each $essel carries ship&ents for nu&erous
i&porters. *ain i&ported &erchandises is sugar 8&ost of which is for re-e#porting to third
countries;. !hip&ents are all under the /!G 4999,99 )!, threshold, thus !G!@s 3.5 is not
re+uired. ppro#i&ately eighty percent of ship&ents subEect to duty and ta# payable of less than
/!G :99, therefore custo&s $aluation is done at the local custo&s office and a brief-declaration
is used.
o ,&porters infor& custo&s the arri$al of cargo and sub&it the re+uired docu&ents
8declaration, in$oice, packing list, and others if any;.
o ,n the case that docu&ents are not presented upon cargo arri$al, goods will be
unloaded and te&porarily stored on the dock under the control of both warehouse
operators and custo&s.
o fter the docu&ent sub&ission, chief of custo&s assigns an e#a&ination tea& to
inspect the goods. =99B of all ship&ents are inspected by custo&s and ca&control.
o ,&porters bring the e#a&ination results to accounting tea& where the custo&s
tariff classification is deter&ined and duty and ta#es are calculated.
o Duty and ta# pay&ents are &ade at the custo&s branch office of !ihanouk$ille
port.
o %he accountants at %o&nop 3olork issue ta# receipts to i&porters after they pay
cash at !ihanouk$ille port@s cashier. ,&porters are not allowed to pay duties at %o&nop
3olork.
o Goods are released.
DRYPORT PROCEDURES
bout =4B of cargo that arri$e at !ihanouk$ille are cleared at Dryports as follows<
8=; ,&porter brings in$oice for certification to GDCE head+uarters, attaching the )!,-3.5,
packing list, 'ill of 2ading, 1% registration, rele$ant license or e#e&ption per&it, and then to the
Dryport Custo&s Chief for $erification, upon which they are sent to any of the : !tation Chiefs.
uthoriAation is obtained by Dryport operator fro& GDCE head+uarters to transport the cargo to
the Dryport. 5our copies of the appro$ed transit declaration are sent to !ihanouk$ille Custo&s,
which registers and seals it, specifies departure ti&e and date, and returns : copies to Dryport
operator.
82; /pon arri$al of cargo, carrier sub&its &anifest and bill of lading to Custo&s and warehouse
operator. Carrier or i&porter posts a surety7guaranteee with !ihanouk$ille Custo&s, which &ay
also escort the cargo or apply other controls depending on risk. ,t fa#es infor&ation about the
cargo to GDCE head+uarters.
8:; Cargo is transported to the Dryport. /pon arri$al, the Dryport operator sub&its the : copies of
the transit declaration to Dryport Custo&s, which returns an endorsed copy to the carrier in order
to cancel it at the entry checkpoint register. %he 2 re&aining copies auto&atically beco&e the
su&&ary declaration.
84; Entry declaration is registered, duties are assessed and collected at accounting.
84; Cross-checking and physical inspection is done, after which goods are released if they &atch
docu&ents, or seiAed if notD
8C; Docu&ents are co&piled under a single registration and sent back to Dryport Chief. 5or
seiAed goods, a report is written and sent to the Chief for decision.
/sing risk assess&ent, generally only a rando& =9-=4B of containers is physically inspected.
FIGURE II.3: DRYPORT CRGO CLERNCE FLO!C"RT
IRPORT PROCEDURES
t the )hno& )enh ,nternational irport, procedures are the re$erse of those at the Dryport< 8=;
i&porter sub&its docu&ents, 82; assess&ent and pay&ent is done, 8:; Custo&s $erifies
docu&ents, 84; entry declaration is registeredD 84; docu&ents are gi$en to Deputy Chief and
Chief.
,n order to facilitate the bona fide tra$elers and tourists, who co&e into Ca&bodia bringing along
non-dutiable, non-prohibited and non-restricted goods, the Custo&s d&inistration established
the Green 2ane channel for the&. 'y passing through the Custo&s counter on the Green
Channel, the tra$elersH belongings will not be checked only if they declare to the Custo&s that
there are no dutiable, prohibited and restricted goods acco&panied with the&. %he Green
Channel can be noticed by ha$ing the panel with words I(.%-,(G %. DEC23EI on it.
%ra$elers or passengers who bring along dutiable goods ha$e to go into the 3ed Channel and
pay duties and ta# applicable. %he 3ed Channel is noticed by ha$ing the panel with words
IG..D! %. DEC23EI on it.
%ra$elers or passengers bringing along dutiable, restricted and prohibited goods, and found using
the Green Channel shall be i&posed a penalty and7or a fine.
%ra$elers and tourists &ay bring personal belongings in reasonable +uantity. Conditions under
which tra$elers and tourists should enEoy concession are stated in Custo&s )assenger 5or&s
which are a$ailable at entry checkpoints and7or air carriers.
%he &aEority of goods e#ported through !ihanuk$ille )ort are gar&ent e#ports. *ost of these
e#ported goods are e#a&ined by the E#port .ffice in )hno& )enh, and the containers are sealed
there. Custo&s at !ihanouk$ille port do not reopen the containers. %hey generally check the
related docu&ents and $erify the seals on the containers. ,f e$erything is in order, containers are
loaded on the $essels for e#port.
%here are so&e goods cleared for e#port at !ihanuk$ille such as wood products and gar&ents
for& factories located in the !ihanuk$ille area. %he chief of custo&s of !ihanuk$ille port sends
staff to carry out the custo&s for&ality and e#a&ination at the in$estors@ pre&ises.
Docu#en$ar% Re&u're#en$(
E#port declaration ha$e to be &ade triplicate and be sub&itted to the Custo&s .ffice,
acco&panied with the following docu&ents<
o Custo&s declaration,
o Co&&ercial in$oice,
o )acking list,
o E#port license 8if any;,
o Certificate of origin 8if any;, and other docu&ents.
Car)o E*a#'na$'on
ll e#ports &ust be e#a&ined by GDCE as a spot check, pri&ary or in detail 8GDCE =???;.
Goods are released when docu&ents are appro$ed, the e#port ta# if any is paid for, and
e#a&ination is co&pleted.
n E#port .ffice at GDCE head+uarters takes charge of gar&ents e#ports, which e#a&ines and
seals cargo with a container bolt seal 8in factory pre&ises; that confor&s to international
standards. .nce they reach !ihanouk$ille seaport their docu&ents and container seal are
checked by GDCE , and they are loaded on $essels.
.ther goods cleared at !ihanouk$ille seaport such as wood products undergo Custo&s for&ality
and e#a&ination on co&pany pre&ises in the !ihanouk$ille area by GDCE staff who are sent by
their Chief.
.ffice ddress<
C-", (orodo& 'l$d, )hno& )enh, Ca&bodia
%elephone< J"44 2: 2=4 9C4
5a# (u&ber< J"44 2: 2=4 9C4