Organic Food in Cambodia

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The Royal Cambodian Government has introduced an organic agriculture policy in April 2020 to boost production and exports.

Organic certification in Cambodia

A prakas (announcement number 163) released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries "aims to raise confidence among producers and consumers and ensures quality, safe food products in line with organic standards." said the Phnom Penh Post. In essence, it will launch rules and a special logo to certify locally produced food is organic in Cambodia. The prakas is said to contain 16 articles covering "the scope of organic agricultural practices in the production and processing of initial food crops and commercial organic agricultural products, including fruits, vegetables and other food crops." “The General Directorate of Agriculture will be in charge, implement the technical mechanism and manage all the implementation in preliminary food production and processing… and the use of the national logo on the products issued under Cambodia’s Organic Agriculture Rules,” said the announcement according to the Khmer Times. In addition, the private sector expects the policy to "help boost local markets and curb vegetable imports from neighbouring countries" reported the national newspaper from a government source. The hope is the guidelines will also assist with:
  • contribution to environmental protection
  • health care
  • safety
  • citizen welfare
One of the commercial upticks would be enabling farmers to grow food crops with the purpose of commercializing their crops through educational services in Cambodia. The Cambodian organic agricultural prakas will also ensure the quality and safety of the crops. The Ministry said counterfeit or deceptive labelling of food crops would be punished under applicable laws. Organic certification in Cambodia

Organic certification organisations in Cambodia

Organic certification organisations and companies already operate in Cambodia such as:
  • ECOCERT
  • Control Union
  • OneCert
  • BCS
  • AgriCert

Cambodian Agriculture 2020

Cambodia imported about 32% of its vegetables from Vietnam and Thailand to meet domestic demand said the Ministry, in April 2020. The Kingdom of Cambodia expects to grow 716,113 tonnes of domestic vegetables in 2020. Cambodia exported 38.63 tonnes of vegetables in the first three months of 2020 to France, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, said a government report.