The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Cambodia – barriers and opportunities

This policy brief examines the early implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Cambodia. It identifies that while SAICM has provided a vision for chemicals management and spurred the development of new legislation and coordination mechanisms, significant barriers remain, including a lack of ground-level enforcement capacity and long-term funding. The document also critiques the global monitoring system of SAICM, arguing that its current indicators are insufficient to measure progress toward the '2020 goal' of minimizing adverse impacts on health and the environment.

• The implementation of SAICM in Cambodia has produced tangible results, including the creation of a new draft law on chemicals, improved national policy coordination through inter-ministerial committees and technical working groups, and a new vision for national chemicals management.
• Significant barriers hinder effective implementation in Cambodia, specifically a lack of capacity to enforce legislation on the ground, insufficient long-term funding, and ministries that lack both a strong mandate and adequate capacity.
• The design features of SAICM—specifically its voluntary status, multi-stakeholder participation, and broad scope—are generally viewed as positive and fit for purpose in a developing country context like Cambodia, as they allow for greater national ownership and flexibility.
• The '2020 goal' of SAICM lacks an operational definition, meaning there is no objective yardstick to measure country performance. Furthermore, the 20 existing indicators for monitoring implementation are inadequate for measuring actual progress toward this goal.
• Global monitoring of SAICM is hampered by a quantitative focus that ignores the quality of actions and a low response rate to indicator questionnaires, which was only 40% for all governmental participants and 20% for the Asia–Pacific region.
• Successes in Cambodia's implementation have been attributed to the long-term leadership of the Ministry of Environment, specifically Secretary of State H.E. Kieu Muth, as well as regional collaboration and the design of the Quick Start Programme (QSP) funding.

APA

Persson, L., Persson, Å., & Sam, C. (2014). The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Cambodia – barriers and opportunities. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Persson-Chemicals-Cambodia.pdf

Chicago

Persson, Linn, Åsa Persson, and Chanthy Sam. The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Cambodia – barriers and opportunities. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Persson-Chemicals-Cambodia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Persson |first1=Linn |last2=Persson |first2=Åsa |last3=Sam |first3=Chanthy |title=The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Cambodia – barriers and opportunities |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Persson-Chemicals-Cambodia.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{persson2014strategic, author = {Persson, Linn and Persson, Åsa and Sam, Chanthy}, title = {{The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management in Cambodia – barriers and opportunities}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-Persson-Chemicals-Cambodia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }