The Cambodia Customs Administration was first established in 1951 by the Royal Decree No. 661 dated 29 June 1951. The operations of the Cambodia Customs Administration were suspended from 1975 to 1979 during the Khmer Rouge regime. The customs operation was resumed by the Government’s Decision to establish Customs and Excise Department (CED) dated 13 August 1979. Sub-decree 06 dated 11 March 1988 transferred the CED from MOC to MEF. The CED was upgraded to the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) by Sub-decree 134 dated 15 September 2008. The GDCE is a public administration under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Up to 1975, the mandate of Director of cutoms and excise whom is the management of this unit was 2 years and the Director of customs and excise was nominated by the royal government of Cambodia which component is as following:

No	Year in Position	Name	Note
1	1952	Mr. EAR Sichov	Business student from France
2	1954	Mr. KEO Mongkry	Business Student from France
3	1956	Mr. UCH Samsem	Chief of Customs and Excise
4	1958	Mr. KOCH San	Chief of Customs and Excise
5	1960	Mr. NHEUK Nou	Royal Palace Officer
6	1962	Mr. CHUM Yaem	Royal Palace Officer
7	1963	Mr. CHHIN Raen	Chief of Customs and Excise
8	1964	Mr. CHUM Yaem	Chief of Customs and Excise
9	1966	Mr. HOU Hong	Royal Palace Officer
10	1968	Mr. CHUM Yaem	Chief of Customs and Excise
11	1970	Mr. SO Khamkhoy	Chief of Customs and Excise
12	1972	Mr. CHUM Yaem	Chief of Customs and Excise
13	1974	Mr. KIM Son	Director of Public Works
14	1975	Mr. KONG Sarin	Chief of Customs and Excise
15	1979 – 1997	Mr. SOR Ho	Chief of Customs and Excise
16	1997 – 1998	Mr. IN Sareoung	Chief of Customs and Excise
17	1998 – 2014	H.E Dr. PEN Siman	Delegation of the Royal Government in charge as Director General of GDCE
18	2014 September – Present	H.E Dr. KUN Nhem	Delegation of the Royal Government in charge as Director General of GDCE

GDCE has become 155th member of WCO (World Customs Organization) in June 2011 on the 50th anniversary of the GDCE.