On Thursday, 23 April, the European Union’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) called for the safeguard mechanisms for the EU rice market to be strengthened, considering the sector to be under pressure from the rise in imports from Asia.
Several rice-producing countries – including the United States, Morocco, and the Philippines – have already introduced or strengthened safeguard measures in the face of an increase in imports as well as trade practices deemed to be destabilising.
According to Copa-Cogeca, the EU has not been spared. Imports from countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, India, and Thailand are reportedly exerting an increasing amount of pressure on European producers, weakening a sector that is described as being essential to rural employment.
The agricultural lobby is therefore calling on the European institutions to strengthen the safeguard mechanisms provided for in the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) by lowering the thresholds by which these mechanisms are automatically activated.
The stated aim is not to restrict trade but to ensure what is considered to be a more level playing field for European producers. This opinion comes at a time when the European Parliament is set to vote on the GSP on Tuesday, 28 April (https://aeur.eu/f/lo2 ) (see EUROPE 13777/18). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)