So far this year, the export sector has recorded more than 500 incidents of insecurity. Economic losses exceed USD 5 million.
Representatives of the export sector. Photo archive from April 2023.
A total of 400 containers of bananas failed to be exported from Puerto Bolívar, El Oro province, between September 9 and 10, 2023, due to insecurity.
During those days, tugboats that were working on a vessel were extorted by criminal gangs, which caused a delay in the departure of the banana cargo, which exports about 6,500 containers per week.
This affected the quality of the product and its competitiveness , by incurring additional costs associated with unforeseen movements in the loading of the fruit, explained the Corporation of Exporting Guilds of Ecuador (Cordex), in a statement.
Due to security and logistics problems, the 400 containers had to be transferred to the Port of Guayaquil to be exported.
Cordex warns that the export sector registers daily insecurity alerts due to extortion, raids on properties, assaults and robberies.
So far this year, the main export products, such as shrimp, bananas, cocoa and fish, have registered more than 500 criminal incidents. In addition, economic losses due to insecurity exceed USD 5 million.
The export sector allocates more than USD 200 million in various private security services and equipment to confront the crime wave that affects Ecuador, details Cordex.
Comprehensive security plan
Representatives of the Ecuadorian Navy, the Police, the Undersecretariat of Maritime Transportation and Ports, the Port Authority of Guayaquil and Puerto Bolívar, along with private maritime companies that operate in El Oro, met on September 12 to seek a solution.
At the working table, it was agreed to create a comprehensive plan to guarantee the safety of personnel on board private vessels and that their navigation operations are carried out normally.
“This intervention by the control authorities allows the resumption of the logistics flow in Puerto Bolívar,” says Cordex. The operations of the Maersk shipping company were temporarily suspended in the terminal, but they have already been resumed.
The export union requests the Government to permanently guarantee the security of international trade operations in other port terminals in the country.
States of exception without results
Cordex questions the effectiveness of the state of emergency , declared by President Guillermo Lasso, on August 10, 2023, after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The state of emergency lasts for 60 days, throughout the country.
The exporting union explains that the purpose of this measure was to regain control in various areas of the country, carrying out targeted operations with intelligence work, to dismantle criminal gangs that are sowing terror.
However, “no favorable change is evident in recent weeks,” he adds.
