Rice cooperatives find themselves "defenseless" against imports following the EU pact

The cooperative rice sector has shown itself to be "defenseless" against imports, following the latest agreement in the European Union (EU) that establishes a new safeguard mechanism, which will allow the entry of up to 562,000 tons to be activated. In a statement, Agro-Food Cooperatives of Spain has criticized the "nefarious" political agreement with which the negotiations in the EU trilogue on the reform of the generalized system of preferences for the rice sector have ended. The sector has lamented that the final commitment "falls far short of guaranteeing fair competition conditions for EU farmers and processors." In the last year alone, imports have reached a record 547,000 tons, exceeding the figures that already justified the application of safeguard measures in 2019. The agreement now approved, despite the vote against it by Spain, Greece, and Italy (main rice producers in the EU), introduces a mechanism based on an average of ten years of imports (387,000 tons), with a ...