EU Delays Ban of Fungicide in Cambodian Rice

The European Commission has delayed its ban of imported rice containing the chemical Tricyclazole after Cambodian farmers complained the move was being pushed through too fast, reports Chea Vannak on KhmerTimes.com.

The EU commission originally announced that Cambodia’s milled rice industry must eradicate the use of Tricyclazole by this month and that exports of Cambodian rice must not contain more than 0.01 milligrams of the chemical per kilogramme, or face bans.

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But the commission has now pushed the deadline back until the end of September, to give exporters time to sell stock and to educate farmers about eliminating the use of the fungicide.

Hun Lak, vice president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, said the EU’s decision to delay the ban came after an outcry from farmers.

“We received many complaints, so we asked the EU to delay until September so we have time to educate farmers and find new fungicides to replace the banned one,” Lak said.

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“We need time to carry out in-depth studies into replacement fungicides. If farmers use something they lack proper understanding of, then it could have very negative consequences for the industry.”

The EU first informed Cambodia of its plan to outlaw Tricyclazole in February.

Read the full story on KhmerTimes.com.

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