Rice, producers against the EU: import barriers too low

The Rice Board even speaks of a 'phantom clause'. According to the agreement between the EU institutions (Council, Parliament and Commission, the so-called trilogue), protections on excessive imports of rice at reduced tariffs would only be triggered over 562,000 tonnes, compared to a request by producers of 200,000.

"A step forward", according to Confagricoltura, but with "a threshold that is still too high and potentially difficult to activate, leaving market surveillance to the special surveillance mechanism that commits the Commission to monitor and intervene in the event of a risk of damage to the European agricultural market". Harsher the judgement of the Cia according to which "the agreement would bring Italian rice to its knees and above all that of Coldiretti: for the organisation with the increase in permitted volumes "von der Leyen sells off European rice and justifies child labour".

A 'bitter epilogue' in short, that of the trialogue between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the safeguard clause which, writes Ente Risi, 'is a resounding slap in the face for European producers, especially Italian producers, the heart of EU rice-growing', with a 'phantom clause, an institutional smokescreen that exposes our sector to unfair and unsustainable competition, confirming that the Commission and the Council cynically privilege developing countries (Cambodia and Myanmar) to the detriment of domestic production, the flagship of Made in Italy, Europe and quality agriculture".

The rice sector, which in Italy concentrates more than 50 per cent of EU production, had been waiting for months for the outcome of the negotiations on the so-called Generalised System of Preferences, the European regulation that grants favourable conditions to the least developed countries. It called for an automatic safeguard clause that would be triggered when import volumes that are unsustainable for the internal market are exceeded, with the suspension of the zero tariffs granted to countries benefiting from the Everything But Arms agreement

"Despite the obvious market distortion caused by the invasion of Asian rice, the trilogue," the Ente Risi denounced, "ended with an agreement that is a real hoax. The agreed safeguard mechanism provides for a trigger only when 562,000 tonnes of imports are exceeded (a figure calculated on the 10-year average with a generous 45% surge) and with a Trq the following year, making the instrument practically activated after the damage has already occurred. The agreed threshold (we started with a negotiation in which the Council asked for 750,000 tonnes) is so high that it makes the safeguard instrument almost impossible to activate, allowing zero-tariffs imports to flood our market before we can take action".
With this agreement, the producers explain, we are defending third countries that are less attentive to the environmental and health standards imposed instead on EU countries, without worrying about the thousands of jobs in the national rice sector.