BRUSSELS - Fashion brands are urging the European Union (EU) to postpone the partial withdrawal of tariff preferences granted to Cambodia under the EU’s Everything but Arms (EBA) trade scheme because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Branded Clothing Alliance (EBCA) has asked the EU to delay the move which it agreed in February following a lengthy review into what it described as systematic human rights violations.
Cambodia is due to lose about 20 per cent of the rights it enjoys under the EBA scheme - the equivalent of €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in exports - when zero duties on goods including apparel revert to a standard 12 per cent in August.
