Frowned upon: A Vietnamese rice noodle brand uses Cambodia’s Bayon temple on their product packaging. — The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
The Ministry of Commerce has urged companies abroad not to use Cambodian national symbols such as the flag and temples as logos on their products without proper authorisation from the relevant authorities, warning of legal consequences for non-compliance.
The call followed incidents where food distributors and companies in the US used the Cambodian national flag, Angkor Wat and Bayon temples on their product packaging.
The ministry announced on Dec 20 that it had worked with the Cambodian embassy abroad to address fraudulent use of national symbols on products in the international market, citing cases from 2020 and 2021.
The commerce ministry, along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Cambodian embassies, contacted the countries of origin of the goods, seeking to ban the labelling and circulation of the products in question.
The commerce ministry also directed companies and stores to remove unauthorised logos and prohibit the use of national symbols on their products.
The ministry has recently noticed the use of Bayon and Angkor Wat images on the packaging of dried noodles and other products in California and other US states, sold without permission of the Cambodian government.
“The ministry has been working with other relevant ministries and agencies to take legal action against Seng Cheang Mong Food Corp based in California, using the Bayon Temple logo on dried noodle packaging selling in supermarkets and online in California and Florida and other companies as well,” said the ministry.
Ministry secretary of state Penn Sovicheat said that the relevant authority is collaborating with both the foreign ministry and the Cambodian embassy in the US to address the issue.
He said they are also coordinating with local authorities in California to take action against the company.
“We are working with our foreign ministry and embassy in the US to resolve the issue because such incidents impact the reputation of our domestically-produced products and our country. They have used the logo of our temples on their packaging without our authorisation, so we will instruct them to remove it,” he said. — The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
