EU set to impose tariffs on rice imports from Cambodia, Myanmar

Rome (VNA) – The European Commission (EC) is likely to impose tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar, according to the Italian Association for Agricultural and Applied Economics.

The European Commission (EC) is likely to impose tariffs on rice coming from Cambodia and Myanmar (Photo: www.ansa)

The EC’s proposal is to set a duty of 175 EUR (198.84 USD) per tonne of the grain in the 2019, and then 150 EUR and 125 EUR in the two following years. The measures are set to begin soon if there is no opposition.

A request to impose tariffs on rice from the two Southeast Asian countries were submitted to the EC by the Italian government in February 2018, which asked to restore the tariffs as a protectionism measures in accordance with Europe’s regulations.

It was backed by Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

In December 2018, the European Union (EU) voted on restoring the tariffs on the two countries. However, the sufficient “qualified majority” was not formally achieved in order to impose the tariffs.

Earlier, the EC propose a probe to determine whether rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar harm manufacturers in the EU.

Italy is the largest rice producer in Europe with more than 219,300 ha under cultivation and an annual output of 1.4 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, a preferential trade agreement allows a surge of rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar, from nearly 5,300 tonnes in 2008-2009 to 372,000 tonnes in 2018.