The trade agreement program continues until it is signed with South Korea and forwarded to the next government

Ecuador continues to coordinate with South Korea the date of signing a trade agreement amid the electoral process to change the government.

These commercial negotiations were closed last April and their subscription is pending, which is expected between September and October, when President Guillermo Lasso will still be in office. The next government will have the internal procedure of ratifying this trade agreement at the Constitutional Court and the new convocation of the National Assembly, whose new members have already been elected in the elections on August 20.

The trade agreement foresees a gradual reduction of tariffs on Chinese cars until 2038, imported furniture will not be reduced

Last May, the president applied death on the cross, which caused the elections to be postponed. Now there are two shortlisted candidates who will succeed him in office.

“The results of the first round of elections have not changed the work to promote the trade agenda and we continue to coordinate with the South Korean authorities the best date to close the deal,” reported the deputy foreign trade ministry. This explaining that Ecuador’s trade agenda is a policy designed and promoted outside of the current government, which began in 2014 with an Agreement with the European Union (EU) and continued with trade agreements with EFTA, the United Kingdom, Chile and in the last two years with Costa Rica , China and South Korea.

This will leave an active agenda for the continuity of the next government, assured the vice ministry, which is part of the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries.

What is the difference between an FTA and a trade agreement?

The procedural aspects of these processes are currently being worked on. “Legal reviews, Korean and Spanish translations, depending on internal processes and the time each party has at this stage of the process.”

When consulting with the deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Trade about what part of this agreement the regime taking over from Lasso will have to fulfill, it replied that none, since this administration will submit the agreement so that the next government can initiate internal processes of ratification at the judicial level Constitutional and National Assembly.

In March, this Government signed an agreement with Costa Rica and that document had the opinion of the Constitutional Court on July 28, which ruled on the constitutionality of the trade agreement, as long as some articles that contradict the Constitution are corrected, especially regarding investments. protection.

Ecuador has already contacted Costa Rica to correct the observations of the Constitutional Court and ratify the trade agreement

The trade agreement with China was signed in May, and on August 9, the Constitutional Court found that before ratification by the President of the Republic, legislative consent should be given and ordered the publication of the full text of the agreement in the Official Gazette, so that within ten days from the publication, every citizen intervenes defending or contesting its partial or complete constitutionality.

The post was filled this Monday, August 28. The opinion of the Constitutional Court and the contract were published in the Official Gazette in Constitutional Edition No. 261.

“At this first moment of constitutional control before the ratification of international treaties, it is up to the Constitutional Court to determine whether legislative approval is required for the ratification of the Treaty.” And “as it concerns the cases provided for in Article 419 (of the Constitution), numbers 3 and 6, it needs legislative approval before it is ratified by the President of the Republic”, according to the analysis carried out in the Constitutional Court.

Find out why the agreement with China would not have the same problems as the one with Costa Rica in the Constitutional Court

The verdict was approved with five votes for judges Karl Andrada, Enrique Herrería, Teresa Nuques, Richard Ortiz and Daniela Salazar, “not counting the presence of Alejandra Cárdenas, Carmen Corral, Jhoel Escudero and Alí Lozada, due to the use of vacation leave”.

Article 110 of the Organic Law on Guarantees of Jurisdiction and Constitutional Control establishes that international agreements that require legislative approval will have an automatic constitutional review before they are ratified and the process of legislative approval begins. Pursuant to Article 111 (number 2 point b) of that law, the Constitutional Court ordered the publication of the text of the contract in the “Narodni novine” and on the website of this court so that within ten days of its publication, any citizen could intervene defending or contesting its partial or complete constitutionality.

Negotiations that will remain for the next government

The Vice President of the Ministry of Foreign Trade indicated that the next Government should continue negotiations with Canada, which should officially begin in January or February 2024.

In the same way, it will be up to the new administration to take over the negotiations with the Dominican Republic and Panama, “processes for which we will leave the road map approved”, the entity urges.

Questions and answers Elections 2023