The Constitutional Court (CC) approved the text of the trade agreement between Ecuador and China, reported this Wednesday, November 1, the former Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, on his X (Twitter) account.

Prado pointed out that the Court “requires the executive power to send it (FTA) to the Assembly, as soon as it takes office, for analysis and approval.” “In the first months of 2024, an FTA with the largest market in the world could already begin,” said the former official.

The agreement was signed last May while Prado was still a minister, and he resigned from that position last June.

The former official added: “Are sensitive products taken into account? Yes, they are excluded from the free trade agreement. That is why the national industry will not be affected. No, China will not attack Ecuador with its products. But we will buy cheaper inputs, technology and raw materials.”

Meanwhile, this newspaper consulted the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Daniel Legarda, on what was reported by Julio José Prado and confirmed the approval of the agreement.

“A few minutes ago, we received a notice from the Constitutional Court about the constitutionality of the Free Trade Agreement between Ecuador and China. This is a very important step before its final approval in the next National Assembly,” the minister indicated a few minutes later in a video on X.

He added that the acceptance of the CC “is a clear sign that the negotiations were in accordance with all constitutional provisions and with complete transparency for the benefit of our country…”.

The Constitutional Court received nine ‘amicus curiae’ for and four against the agreement between China and Ecuador

The agreement was already published on Monday, August 28, in the Official Register 261, together with the opinion of the Court, which gave a deadline of ten days from the announcement that any citizen can intervene in the defense or challenge of its partial or constitutional constitutionality. in total.

By September 11, the constitutional body had received 9 ‘amicus curiae’ in favor of the instrument, which was confirmed that month by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries. In the opposition, KS also won four seats.

The Court’s original verdict was delivered on August 9

The Court’s initial verdict was handed down on August 9, the same day that presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed, and the organization then issued a statement denying the fact. The verdict went unnoticed.

“At this first moment of constitutional control before the ratification of international treaties, it is up to the Constitutional Court to determine whether the ratification of the Treaty requires legislative approval or not.” And “since it is subject to the cases provided for in Article 419 (of the Constitution), paragraphs 3 and 6, legislative consent is required before ratification 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 confirmed by the plenary session of the Constitutional Court with five votes for constitutional judges Karla Andrada Quevedo, Enrique Herrería Bonnet, Teresa Nuques Martínez, Richard Ortiz Ortiz and Daniela Salazar Marín, at the session on Wednesday, August 9. 2023, “without the presence of Alejandra Cárdenas Reyes, Carmen Corral Ponce, Jhoel Escudero Soliz and Alí Lozada Prado, due to the use of vacation permits.”