Cambodia wins rice battle at EU Court

The European General Court has rejected the European Commission’s (EC) request to reject a complaint submitted by Cambodia and the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) regarding the EU’s reintroduction of tariffs on Indica rice exports from Cambodia, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

A court order uploaded to the European Law Journal on September 10 said the EC had submitted a plea requesting the court to dismiss Cambodia’s complaint and regard it as inadmissible.

But Cambodia and the CRF argued that the court should reject the EC’s plea of inadmissibility and annul the contested regulation on the rice exports. The court decided that the plea of inadmissibility is rejected.

Cambodia and the CRF last April took the EC to court for the commission’s decision to reintroduce import duties for Indica rice from Cambodia for three years.

The reintroduction of import duties required Cambodia to pay 175 EUR (201 USD) per tonne in the first year, 150 EUR per tonne in year two, and 125 EUR per tonne in year three, effective from January 18, last year.

The EC said Cambodia and the CRF did not satisfy the standing requirements to bring proceedings as stated in Article 263 TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

The commission said the re-introduced regulations did not apply to the territory of Cambodia and therefore had no binding legal effect on Cambodia or the CRF.

It said the decision did not prevent the export of Indica rice from Cambodia to the EU. At most, the regulations may bring about a possible decline in sales, the EC said. The regulation did not cause any personal damage to the Kingdom of Cambodia or the CRF, it said.

But the court chamber objected to the EC’s claim. It said the contested regulation thus has direct legal effects on the Cambodia since by means of that regulation; the commission has changed the legal situation of the Kingdom of Cambodia as a country benefiting from the full suspension of Common Customs Tariff duties.

Source: Vietnam Plus