February 11 is the deadline by which the Commission for International Relations and Mobility of People must send a report on signed trade agreement with Costa Ricafor subsequent plenary discussion.

According to the president of the legislative committee, Representative Jonathan Parra, from the ruling National Democratic Action Alliance, this international instrument gives impetus to the manufacturing industry, which will have an extraordinary opportunity to continue growing and be an exit point for Central America.

Costa Rica will have the first commercial office of its Foreign Trade Promoter in Ecuador

“I asked my fellow MPs and guests in general to hold a high-level debate, reviewing every point of the document in order to present a complete report to the plenary session and for the country to be the one that wins, with new opportunities to create jobs and increase our exports. This is how we all win in these difficult times,” said Parra.

On Friday, January 26, the main commissions began, which continue this week, on Monday, January 29 and Wednesday, January 31. “We have only 20 days to present the report, ie until February 11. As the president of the Commission, I have to send the report to the Presidency of the Assembly for subsequent introduction to the plenary session”, he pointed out.

Among those who appeared last Friday was María Paz Jervis, executive president of the Chamber of Industry and Production, who indicated that this trade agreement is “quite positive for Ecuador,” that it was intelligently negotiated, taking into account the country’s sensitivities, and that ” has “unique advantages”, which are what would be called new generation agreements, which have a view and perspective on new disciplines: small and medium enterprises, trade with a gender perspective, environment, investments.

According to Jervis, with this agreement 97% of current exports would benefit from tariff preferences. Also that 80% of Ecuador’s current supply would go in immediately with a 0% tariff; that Costa Rica is a country with high purchasing power for the region; that 56% of the companies that export to Costa Rica are small and medium enterprises; and that exports are estimated to increase by around 10%.

Danilo Palacios, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, also intervened, pointing out that The trade balance between Ecuador and Costa Rica in 2023 was positive in favor of Ecuador.

Trade agreements with China and Costa Rica should be a priority in the Parliament, according to former ministers of production

The official pointed out that considering the geographical position of our country, this gives the possibility of supplying products that may become a necessity due to climatic phenomena in other markets. “The countries of Central America and the Caribbean are always more exposed to these natural phenomena, and this can present us with opportunities to market our products, mainly agricultural, and opportunities to meet needs at a certain moment… Ecuador should be a country that is open to the world because the climate will conditions to provide opportunities and at one point be a pantry for other countries, logically first ensuring the food sovereignty of our country”, he said.

The minister indicated that in reference to the agreement there are products for which mutual exclusions are stated: beef, pork and chicken, dairy products, onions, pineapples, rice, potatoes, palm oil, sugar and ethyl alcohol.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Costa Rica is a country with about 5 million inhabitants, but what is important to it is tourist mobility, due to which the population grows for a large part of the year and creates needs, which becomes an opportunity for Ecuador.

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

Francisco Rivadeneira, from the Corporation for the Promotion of Exports and Investments of Ecuador (Corpei), also appeared, who mentioned the elements that must be considered by the members of the assembly in order to make appropriate decisions, and among the points he said, first and in his personal capacity, It was a “well-negotiated” and “beneficial for the country” agreement. Furthermore, it is a “win, win” agreement for both parties, which is positive, because they are the ones that last over time.

Points to consider show that especially Costa Rica, but also Central America and the Caribbean, are priority markets for Ecuador’s foreign trade, because they are natural markets and are close to the country, in addition to sharing the same consumption trends.

He also urged the legislators to consider how this is a beneficial agreement for small and medium-sized enterprises, for associations, cooperatives and in general for the people’s and solidarity economy, which was proposed by the Ecuadorian negotiating team.

Among other points, he indicated that the agreement protects sensitive sectors of the country and added that it has commercial defense mechanisms, which are those that allow the defense of the national industry, the so-called safeguard measure, which allows for an increase in protection to prevent the Ecuadorian sector from being affected. And another case when there are cases disposal in the Ecuadorian market or that the Costa Rican state subsidizes companies to compete with Ecuador. And to that he indicated that the resources offered by the World Trade Organization must be added.

It comes out this Monday, January 29th

Appearances by Lucía Loaiza, national director of copyright and related rights at the National Intellectual Property Office, were scheduled for this Monday. As well as Rosee Mary Ramírez, Carvagu foreign trade coordinator; Xavier Rosero, Executive Vice President of Fedexpor; Jaime Tamayo, head of international sales at Novopan; Daniel Granados, General Manager of Femec; and a delegate from Zaimell.

Meanwhile, Sonsoles García, Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, is due to appear on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Production, trade between Ecuador and Costa Rica in 2022 will reach about 110 million dollars. Meanwhile, exports amounted to 40 million dollars, among others, highlighting: canned tuna and sardines, shrimp, medicines, white goods, porcelain and sanitary ceramics, food, forestry products and metal processing.

In terms of imports, an approximate amount of $70 million was recorded in products such as: iron or steel waste and scrap, drugs, medical supplies, nutritional supplements, tires, among others.