In an open plea, National Union Alliance Chamber of Cambodia (NACC representing 400,000 Cambodian workers in manufacturing industries, including the garment industry, asked the EU not to revoke the tariff-free access Cambodia currently enjoys to European markets.
Cambodia is one of 49 countries covered under the EU’s “Everything but Arms” (EBA) trade agreement. The agreement allows the world’s poorest nations to export their products, except arms and ammunition, to European markets without incurring duties.
If the EU and US revoke Cambodia’s EBA trade access, garment workers in the country will suffer as brands will relocate to cheaper places for making their clothes. This will result in loss of 43 per cent of jobs for garment workers and 20 per cent jobs for footwear workers.
The EU began the procedure to suspend Cambodia’s preferential trade status in February, by establishing a monitoring period and putting pressure on Cambodia to reform. A month earlier, US senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced a bill that, if passed, would require the US to review its own preferential trade status for Cambodia.
