As EU decision on tariffs looms, Cambodia garment industry gets nervous

Factories hit back at international brands' 'disappointing' criticism of human rights progress

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Cambodia's garment industry employs 750,000 workers. Losing tariff-free access to the EU could threaten some of those jobs.  © Reuters

SHAUN TURTON, Contributing Writer

PHNOM PENH -- A rare public spat has broken out between Cambodian garment factories and the international brands they supply as concerns grow that the country will soon lose its tariff-free access to Europe.

Less than two weeks remain until the European Union decides whether it will revoke Cambodia's trade privileges, granted under the Everything But Arms scheme for least-developed nations, due to the country's "systematic" violations of human and labor rights.

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