The European Union’s partial suspension of trade privileges for Cambodia kicked in on Wednesday, leaving the country to absorb a potential loss in exports in light of a COVID-19-induced economic slowdown.
In February, the European Commission completed a year-long investigation and evaluation period and decided to suspend the ‘Everything But Arms’ trade privileges on 40 types of products, accounting for $1.4 billion in 2019 exports to the economic bloc. The suspension, the EU said, was necessitated by systemic human rights violations.
“The EU’s decision to partially withdraw Cambodia’s duty-free quota-free access to the EU market is now effective,” read a statement issued by the EU Commission on Wednesday.
