European Commission recognizes economic damage caused by rice imports from Cambodia and Burma

Imports of rice duty-free from Cambodia and Burmacountries for which the law may soon be reinstated. These are the conclusions of the inquiry launched last March by the European executive, which will now propose, with 28 votes, the resumption of customs duties for the two Asian countries. The European Commission gives its right to Italian rice producers. The survey was actually launched at the request submitted last February by Italy, the EU's largest rice producer, with the support of seven other countries (France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria).

The objective was to determine whether these imports – allowed by the EU's "all but arms" trade preferences scheme for the poorest countries – had caused serious difficulties for European producers in 2012-2017. . The scheme has allowed Cambodia and Burma to increase exponentially textile and rice exports indicate in the EU. According to the data presented by Ente Risi in Brussels last January, the rice import boom seems to come mainly from Phnom Penh, with the inflow rising by 822% (from 27 000 to 249 000 tonnes) in 2012 to 2017. Cambodia and Burma they are also at the center of a European Commission investigation into repeated violations of human rights, investigation that could lead to the suspension of all trade preferences applied by the company. 39; EU. "The Commission has closed the rice safeguard investigation by acknowledging the damage done to rice growing in Italy and proposing to restore the rights for three years.In the coming days, we will work to get the final confirmation ", wrote on Twiiter the Minister of Policies for Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Tourism, Gian Marco Centinaio.

Coldiretti also exults: "Finally, the European Commission has proposed to restore for three years the duties on rice imports from Cambodia and Burma, where it was also collected in the camps of the Rohingya minority forced to flee because of violent repression ". According to Coldiretti, "Rice imports from Burma into the European Union increased by 66% between September 2017 and July 2018. The crisis is dramatic and jeopardizes national supremacy in Europe, where Italy is the leading rice producer with 1.50 million tonnes in a territory cultivated by about 4,000 companies of 234,300 hectares, which covers about 50% of the "All European production with a very unique range of varieties". evaluation document will be presented to the Council working group in mid-November for the final decision with the vote of the 28 countries.According to Coldiretti, "it is not acceptable that the European Union continues to focus on imports exploitation and violation of human rights General indifference and it is necessary that all products entering national and European borders meet the same criteria to protect the dignity of workers, ensuring that behind food, there is a quality path that concerns the quality of life. environment, health and work, with: a fair distribution of value ".