Telecom law grants ‘police powers’

15 August 2014, Eddie Morton, PhnomPenh Post

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Private-sector representatives today are to conclude a two-day consultation forum with the government over the controversial new draft telecommunications law.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications’ (MPT) yet-to-be-approved draft law includes provisions that grant the ministry judicial powers to indict telecom service-related operators and even everyday users of communications devices over breaches of the proposed laws, according to an unofficially translated version of the confidential document.

“The officials of the MPT and the [Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia] have a legal status as judicial police officers with a function as specified in the Code of Criminal Procedures on the function of judicial police,” the draft law states. (continued)

Draft law indicates heightened expropriation risks in Cambodia's telecoms sector

IHS Jane's Intelligence Weekly

22 July 2014

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EVENT

On 24 July what appeared to be a draft telecommunications law was apparently leaked from the Cambodian Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), detailing a government plan to take greater control over the sector.

According to Phnom Penh Post , which reportedly received the draft from an unnamed source, the 31-page 100-article Khmer-language document stated that no company can both operate infrastructure assets and also provide telecoms services, such as telephone, radio, television and internet.

If the supposed draft law is submitted and approved by the ruling Cambodia People's Party (CPP)-dominated National Assembly in its current form, telecoms companies that want to retain their retail operations would be required to sell their infrastructure assets and rely on what the government-controlled infrastructure provides, the Phnom Penh Post reported. The draft law also reportedly stated that the "ministry will use the telecom sector as a tool to maintain social order".

FORECAST

The draft law is likely to be politically motivated. This is because the law would ensure the government, which has agreed to grant the opposition access to television and radio station licences as part of the deal to end the year-long political deadlock following disputed July 2013 elections, has the final control. If approved, the law would significantly increase expropriation and contract frustration risks for both domestic and international telecoms companies with operations in Cambodia, as it is likely to involve a reassessment of all telecoms licences. The approval of the draft law, which has been labelled as a draconian effort to nationalise the industry by Cambodian telecommunication companies according to the Phnom Penh Post , would be an unprecedented move by the government. Expropriation to date has been confined almost exclusively to land and property of domestic entities and as ownership of the former is barred to foreign nationals and access to the latter is restricted this has not been a major problem for overseas investors operating within the country's legal system.

http://www.janes.com/article/41213/draft-law-indicates-heightened-expropriation-risks-in-cambodia-s-telecoms-sector

Cambodia’s draft chemicals management law under review

Published on 12 August 2014, http://chemicalwatch.com/20846/cambodias-draft-chemicals-management-law-under-review

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Cambodia's Ministry of Environment (MoE) has confirmed that its draft chemicals management law is still being debated by the country's Council of Ministers (CW 7 February 2012). All relevant ministries including the MoE, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health are currently checking and revising the draft. When this work is done, the proposed legislation will be submitted to the National Assembly for its approval. The final step requires the law to be approved by Cambodia's Senate.

The MoE says the current political situation has slowed adoption of the law, adding that there is no schedule for submitting the draft to the National Assembly. However, a deal reached last month between prime minister Hun Sen and the opposition, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), will see the CNRP returning to parliament. It has been boycotting parliament since last July’s disputed election. 

Cambodia's draft framework law on chemical management was developed through the Quick Start Programme (QSP) of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (Saicm). In June, a review of the role of Saicm in Cambodia was presented at the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) in Geneva.

Saicm's report says that the status of Cambodia's draft framework law on chemicals management is "still unclear.”  It notes that both Cambodian stakeholders and implementing agencies have estimated that implementing the new law “will be very demanding” and the resources needed are currently lacking.

Further information on CW+AsiaHub

Rachel Arputharajoo-Middleton