ZCZC
BCN-36
CAMBODIA-EU-RICE-TRADE
Cambodia, Myanmar hit out at tough EU rice tariffs
PHNOM PENH, Jan 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Cambodia and Myanmar have railed at
the European Commission for resuming tariffs on millions of dollars of rice,
with one ministry describing the move as a “weapon” against already poor
farmers.
The EC reimposed duties of up to 175 euros ($200) per tonne of Indica rice
from the two countries for three years following intensive lobbying by Italy,
who said cheap imports were damaging its farmers.
While it is unconnected, the EC decision comes against the backdrop of
threats to remove both Southeast Asian countries from its Everything But Arms
(EBA) scheme because of human rights abuses.
The EBA deal allows developing countries access to export a broad array of
goods — including rice — to European markets without shouldering tariffs.
The EC found that Indica rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar had
increased by 89 percent in the last five seasons.
But Cambodia’s ministry of commerce said the complaint was based on
inaccurate information and would hurt farmers in one of Southeast Asia’s
poorest countries.
It is a “weapon to kill them and their families who are in debt”, it said
late Thursday.
Nearly half of Cambodia’s 625,000 tonnes of exported rice went to EU
markets last year, according to government data.
Ye Min Aung, of Myanmar’s Rice Federation, also slammed the move, saying
its rice exports to the EU amounted to around $100 million annually.
“We request the EU to keep helping us,” he said. “Our country has many
difficulties to overcome.”
This week Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened “to step on the
throat” of his political rivals if the EU ended the Anything But Arms deal,
which would hit the kingdom’s cash-cow garment sector the hardest.
Removing EU trade preferences is a long, drawn-out process that can take
several months.
BSS/AFP/HR/1430