Italy millers slam ‘unfair’ EBA

Cambodia duty-free rice exports to the European Union have this week come under fresh attack from producers in Italy, who say the beneficial treatment is restricting the potential of Italian rice exports. An Italian agriculture collective of farmers, which includes representatives from the Italian Association of Rice Industries, will protest in some of Italy’s largest rice-growing areas, according to a July 7 report by rice industry publication Oryza. The cause of the uproar, says Oryza, is the preferential treatment Cambodia receives under the European Union’s Everything But Arms scheme, which allows tax-free access to EU markets for all states on the UN’s list of least developed countries, which includes Cambodia. Italian rice producers say cheaper Cambodian imports create an unfair playing field for their products. …

Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/italy-millers-slam-%E2%80%98unfair%E2%80%99-eba