Illustrative image (Source: AFP)Hanoi (VNA) – Cambodia hasannounced that it will file a lawsuit against the EU to the European courtafter Brussels applied high tariffs on rice exported from the Southeast Asiancountry.
The move comes after the EuropeanCommission, the EU’s executive arm, announced in January that it will imposeduties on Indica rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar for three years.
The EU had complained of a significantincrease in Indica rice imports over the last five years, which had punishedEuropean producers, especially in Italy.
The market share of EU producers fellover this period from 61 percent to 29 percent, the commission said.
According to Cambodia’s Ministry ofCommerce, the EC’s announcement that imports ofIndica rice from the two countries had risen by 89 percent in the past fiverice-growing seasons was based on wrongful information and would affect farmersin one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.
Indica rice from the two countries issubject to a duty of 175 EUR (197.25 USD) per tonne in the first year, droppingto 150 EUR in the second and 125 EUR in the third year.
A statement from the Cambodian RiceFederation said that the defensive measures are fundamentally misguided and amisapplication of EU law.
The reintroduction of import dutiesis detrimental to the Cambodian economy and its industry, but above all to itspeople, it said.
Up until January, Cambodia andMyanmar had fully benefited from the Everything But Arms initiative, whichallows developing countries to export their products to the EU with zeroduties.–VNA
VNA
