The full National Assembly will hear and resolve this Thursday, January 11, 2023, a report recommending the approval of the trade agreement signed between Ecuador and China.

This is the first item on the agenda of the call for plenary session number 887, which will be held starting at 09:00.

The Committee on International Relations of the Assembly approved the said report on January 3 after receiving representatives from different sectors, including former officials of the government of Guillermo Lasso, in which the agreement was signed on May 10, 2023. The report had six votes and three abstentions, because the legislators see and adverse side and disadvantages for small and medium industries.

The trade agreement will benefit 99.6% of Ecuador’s export supply. Of these, 50% of products will immediately enter China duty-free, such as tuna, sardines, among others. For other products, customs duties will be progressively reduced over a period of up to 20 years. More than 800 sensitive products were excluded, including goods from the industrial, textile, automotive and metalworking sectors.

The Commission of the National Assembly approved the report for the ratification of the trade agreement with China

The president of that legislative committee, the ruling party Jonathan Parra (ADN), explained that there are only two options at the plenary session: to approve it or not to test it, because they cannot change an agreement that has already been closed. and which was negotiated by the two countries at that time. 70 votes are needed for its ratification.

Former Minister of Production and Foreign Trade Daniel Legarda explained that the agreements with the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and Chile followed the same process, where they were ratified by the Assembly in the process of a single report by the Commission and approved by the legislative plenary session. That is, in one discussion.

Non-oil exports to China would increase by an additional $3 billion as a result of the trade agreement

If the Assembly ratifies it, the agreement will immediately go to the Official Registry, as former minister Julio José Prado, who was in charge of signing with China, explained at the time. “There is no trade agreement in the history of Ecuador that was rejected by the Assembly,” he commented at the time.

At the same session, the report proposing the acceptance of the Framework Convention of the World Tourism Organization on ethics in tourism, which also needs to be ratified, will be announced.