Tobacco deal leaves farmers out
It has been more than six months since Vietnam agreed to waive duties on 3,000 tonnes of Cambodian dried tobacco exports per year, yet local smallholder tobacco farmers claim the agreement has done little to improve their incomes, with some accusing large tobacco companies of hoarding all the profits. The duty-free exemption on tobacco came as part of a bilateral trade enhancement agreement signed last October that gave special preferential treatment to 39 export items from Cambodia and 29 items from Vietnam. Under the deal, Cambodian tobacco producers could apply for licences to export up to 3,000 tonnes of dried tobacco per year to Vietnam duty-free in 2016 and 2017. The agreement was widely expected to stimulate exports, with smallholder farmers benefitting from higher prices and demand from traders looking to fill the quota.
