EU Alleges Up to 30% of Cambodia Rice Imports Mixed With Vietnam Rice
The Alliance of Rice Producers and Exporters of Cambodia (ARPEC) has proposed a “Code of Conduct” for rice exporters of the country to prevent contamination of rice from other origins in rice exports to EU member countries. Under the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade relaxations allowed to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the EU does not levy any import tariff on rice from Cambodia (or Myanmar since last summer). However, this is being exploited by traders from Cambodia to export rice from neighboring Vietnam where prices are usually low, the EU alleges. According to the EU Trade Commissioner, as much as 30% of the 196,000 tons of rice exported by Cambodia to EU members in 2013 so far is rice of Vietnam origin mixed with Cambodia rice. The Commissioner has warned that Cambodia could lose EBA benefits if the government fails to control the quality of rice exported to the EU members. …
Oryza
http://oryza.com/news/eu-alleges-30-cambodia-rice-imports-are-mixed-vietnam-rice
