Phnom Penh (FN), Aug. 22 - In the first six months of 2019, Cambodia exported more than 137,000

tons of rice to the European Union (EU). That is a lot of rice, but it is half the amount that was exported
during the same period in 2018, according to Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF).

“As of the first of this year, the EU imposed duties on Cambodian rice in order to protect domestic producers. This has been acutely felt by most of the 500,000 families who eke out a living farming jasmine and fragrant long grain rice, in spite of the fact that these varieties are geographically specific and do not compete directly with products grown in the EU, CRF wrote in its press release dated Thursday.

“As if this weren't painful enough, the EU is now considering the withdrawal of its "Everything But Arms" (EBA) program. This trade arrangement allows goods from Cambodia and other developing nations to enter the EU free of duties and tariffs. EU legislators are threatening to end the arrangement to press for policy reforms in Cambodia. A thrashing could lead to a threshing of an industry and a way of life,” it added.

Read the press release below:
=FRESH NEWS