If Coreper II approves today a new amended text on the Generalised Schemes of Tariff Preferences (GSP), a trilogue will be resumed tomorrow on Thursday 14th March in Brussels. Copa and Cogeca call on negotiators to endorse the longstanding stance taken by the European Parliament concerning Article 29 on automatic safeguard mechanisms on imports. The support to this provision holds a critical role for the survival of the rice sector in Europe.
As seen by the latest data from the Joint Research Centre study on the economic impact of upcoming trade agreements on EU agriculture which was published on 22nd February 2024, rice is one of the sectors most threatened by the EU trade agenda. The study, for both the conservative and ambitious scenarios, presents an increase in imports from the ten Free Trade Agreements considered, of between 9.7% and 19.8% by 2030, underlining once again the sensitivity and vulnerability of the sector.
Rice imports from Cambodia and Myanmar during the 2022/2023 marketing year amounted to 504,236 tonnes, an increase of 126% compared to the 2020/2021 marketing year (when the safeguard clause was enforced) allowing both lead producers to export 222,545 tonnes of rice to Europe. The implementation of this automatic mechanism, instead of hampering trade relations, would be a crucial safeguard for European farmers and agricultural cooperatives.
In view of a possible upcoming trilogue, Copa and Cogeca stress the urgent need for a transparent and effective system to protect this traditional European production and call on the European Parliament to maintain its longstanding support for Article 29, as agreed in their long-held position.
The European rice sector cannot sustain further volumes of cheap imports. Without effective measures to shield European rice production, the EU risks escalating its dependence on third countries with divergent production standards, undermining the resilience and sustainability of the EU’s rice production. For Copa and Cogeca, the inclusion of automatic safeguard measures on rice imports from EBA countries should be a binding condition for reaching a possible provisional agreement!
Fonte: Copa Cogeca
