Push for Kep salt to obtain GI status

KHMER TIMES
SUM MANET

Workers in Kep province pile up salt to be dried and then packaged and sold. Supplied

The Ministry of Commerce plans to push Kep salt to obtain geographical indication (GI) status thanks to the natural quality of salt in the province.

Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak said the ministry was reviewing the possibility of GI status for salt farmed in Kep because the province is a limitless source of natural salt and seafood.

“If the plan for GI status for Kep salt is successful, the province will be more attractive to investors and tourists and will help create more job opportunities and income for the people,” he said.

“Salt is a partner of pepper. Our vision is to help Kep province with its GI products. We are studying Kep salt because many countries are interested in this product.

“To care for people’s welfare and more than one million tourists who enjoy Kep province each year, the ministry is preparing some regulations in the commercial sector, including consumer protection laws, to empower local Camcontrol officials so they can monitor goods effectively,” he said, referring to the government’s import-export inspection body.

Bun Baraing, the co-executive director of the Salt Association of Kampot and Kep, said getting GI status would be good for salt exports, but for now, salt from the two provinces was just supplying the local market.

According to a study conducted by the salt association, the kingdom consumes about 100,000 tons of salt per year.

Production, however, exceeds demand and in 2015, salt production in Kampot and Kep reached 320,000 tons. About 700 farmers cultivate about 4,700 hectares of land in the two provinces.

“We consume a maximum of almost 100,000 tons of salt per year. However, if just 20,000 tons of cheaper salt is imported, it will affect local production and force us to keep the surplus salt in storage,” he said.

Obtaining GI status for Kampot pepper took approximately five years at a cost of about $1 million. Kampot pepper is widely recognized by the European Union, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Four other Cambodian products – Kampot salt, Phnom Srok silk of Banteay Meanchey province, fragrant milled rice from Battambang province and Kampot durian – are now seeking GI status by the EU.