Siem Reap, 7 November 2023: Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, in collaboration with the EU ARISE Plus Cambodia program and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), held a workshop, ‘Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) and National Trade Repository (NTR) for Better Trade Facilitation’ in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on 6–7 November 2023. Government officials from a broad range of stakeholders from various Cambodian ministries and agencies attended the workshop.

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) encompass any policy measure, other than ordinary customs tariffs, that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods. Thus, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the concept of NTMs and their impact on trade, particularly within the context of value chain, is indispensable for policymakers.

In his opening remarks, Uy Rithymony, Head of NTM/NTR Secretariat in Cambodia, emphasised the importance for policymakers to grasp the basic concept of NTMs and the need to institute effective tracking and implementation of NTMs to facilitate more trade in Cambodia.

Through ERIA’s Capacity Building Program, David Christian, an ERIA Research Associate, conducted the workshop’s first session. He provided participants with a brief overview about the concept of NTMs. His explanation covered the definition, rationale and classification system of NTMs, as well as some of ERIA’s works, publications, and initiatives pertaining to NTMs in ASEAN. He also presented the latest data with respect to the NTM incidence and prevalence in ASEAN in general and Cambodia in particular.

In the subsequent session, Dr Doan Thi Thanh Ha, an ERIA Economist, further elaborated on the impact of NTMs from the perspective of value chains. She noted that given the rising share of trade in intermediate goods and value chain participation through both backward and forward linkages, NTMs applied on upstream sectors can also affect downstream sectors due to spillover effect, which further adds to the trade costs along the value chain beyond their immediate effects on the intermediate inputs.

In relation to this, Dr Ha elaborated on the relevance of the ASEAN Toolkit on Addressing the Cost and Effectiveness of NTMs, which was endorsed by the 53rd ASEAN Economic Ministers in September 2021. The toolkit focuses on reviewing import NTMs applied to intermediate inputs relevant for a critical national value chain of interest. Implementation of this toolkit could potentially lead to more cost-effective NTMs being applied and stronger export competitiveness of the final products.

The workshop continued with a presentation by Paolo R. Vergano, Partner at FratiniVergano – European Lawyers. He provided an overview of the ASEAN Trade Repository (ATR) and National Trade Repository (NTR) together with NTMs’ transparency commitments under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) framework. Alya Mahira, Associate at FratiniVergano – European Lawyers, shared her knowledge regarding the implementation of such commitments in Cambodia and other ASEAN countries, along with the best practices in this area. Her presentation also touched upon the challenges facing relevant government officials in the data notification and input process into ATR or NTR platform.

The second day of the workshop provided an opportunity for internal coordination across various ministries and agencies, featuring several presentations, progress reports, and discussions with members of the Cambodia’s NTM/NTR Secretariat.