A rice shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo: AFP/VNA) PhnomPenh (VNA) - The European General Court has rejected the EuropeanCommission’s (EC) request to reject a complaint submitted by Cambodia and theCambodian Rice Federation (CRF) regarding the EU’s reintroduction of tariffs onIndica rice exports from Cambodia, according to the Phnom Penh Post.
A court order uploaded to the European LawJournal on September 10 said the EC had submitted a plea requesting the courtto dismiss Cambodia’s complaint and regard it as inadmissible.
But Cambodia and the CRF argued that the courtshould reject the EC’s plea of inadmissibility and annul the contestedregulation on the rice exports. The court decided that the plea ofinadmissibility is rejected.
Cambodiaand the CRF last April took the EC to court for the commission’s decision toreintroduce import duties for Indica rice from Cambodia for three years.
The reintroduction of import duties requiredCambodia to pay 175 EUR (201 USD) per tonne in the first year, 150 EUR pertonne in year two, and 125 EUR per tonne in year three, effective from January18, last year.
The EC said Cambodia and the CRF did notsatisfy the standing requirements to bring proceedings as stated in Article 263TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).
The commission said the re-introducedregulations did not apply to the territory of Cambodia and therefore had nobinding legal effect on Cambodia or the CRF.
It said the decision did not prevent theexport of Indica rice from Cambodia to the EU. At most, the regulations maybring about a possible decline in sales, the EC said. The regulation did notcause any personal damage to the Kingdom of Cambodia or the CRF, it said.
But the court chamber objected to the EC’sclaim. It said the contested regulation thus has direct legal effects on theCambodia since by means of that regulation; the commission has changed thelegal situation of the Kingdom of Cambodia as a country benefiting from thefull suspension of Common Customs Tariff duties./.
VNA
