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Without an agreement with the EFTA countries, bananas are already losing sales
Posted On 10 Jul 2017
Ecuadornews:
It is imperative for Ecuador to sign a trade agreement with the EFTA group of countries (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), as a whole it represents a population of 13.5 million inhabitants with high purchasing power. Although the negotiating rounds are progressing positively, Ecuador (especially the banana sector) is losing money due to the lack of a trade agreement, which was already achieved by Colombia.
Eduardo Ledesma, president of the Banana Exporters Association of Ecuador, said that while Colombia pays a 0% tariff to enter the EFTA bloc, Ecuador pays a 25% tariff. The consequence of this is that Ecuadorian bananas have lost market shares. “We used to sell between 50,000 and 70,000 boxes a week. Today we do not reach the 5,000 boxes,” said Ledesma.
The lesson that this leaves us is that we should not delay the other trade agreements that are missing, as that with the US.
It is estimated that the EFTA agreement is signed by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade. (I)
