Ecuador and Chile relaunched their commercial relationship with new agreements

Ecuador and Chile presented their new Economic Complementation Agreement, a trade integration instrument between the two countries which, although it entered into force in May of this year, had not been socialized.

According to the Ecuadorian Production Ministry, this instrument modernizes the 27-year-old trade relationship between the countries and includes new disciplines.

In the event held in person and virtually in Quito, Ecuador, and Santiago, Chile, the authorities explained the main lines of the agreement.

Ecuador’s Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Daniel Legarda, assured that the agreement will include commercial cooperation in areas such as online trade and that it is part of the strengthening of the historically good relations between the two countries:

“With this agreement, Ecuador and Chile reaffirm our will to work to achieve a higher level of integration and strengthen the growth of the commercial relationship between the two countries. This agreement is the result of the will of both governments to deepen and modernize their relationship, including disciplines such as e-commerce and others with a social focus such as labor and gender,” he said.

For José Miguel Ahumada, Chile’s Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, the agreement demonstrates his country’s commitment to maintaining trade relations with other countries:

“This agreement marks a milestone in the economic ties between our countries and represents Chile’s interest in strengthening and deepening trade relations with our region.”

According to officials, the agreement will strengthen productive linkages in sectors that have been considered strategic, producing more employment and improving the quality of exports.

Chile’s commercial attaché in Ecuador, Carmen Gloria Cerda, assured that the instrument is a continuation of previous agreements and highlighted the excellent relationship between both countries, but emphasized that the current deal includes new issues related to gender, exports to third parties and others:

“With Ecuador, we have geographical and cultural proximity. This new agreement comes to reinforce the excellent bilateral relationship between Chile and Ecuador and, in addition to tariff liberalization, the agreement addresses new issues incorporating additional disciplines and standards and matters with an inclusive approach, achieving a deeper level of integration for the benefit of Chilean and Ecuadorian companies and investments,” he said.

The agreement presented on July 27 contains 24 chapters, including market access, rules of origin, trade facilitation, trade defense, good regulatory practices, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, e-commerce, telecommunications, government procurement, competition policy, small and medium-sized enterprises, regional and global value chains, trade and labor issues, trade and environment, trade and gender, and economic and trade cooperation.

Ecuador and Chile first signed a trade agreement in 1995. In 2010, a new agreement came into force, and now the current agreement focuses on deepening and broadening political and social dialogue, cooperation, culture, and economics between the two countries.

According to figures presented by the authorities, in 2021, Ecuador was the twenty-first market for Chilean exports worldwide. The most exported products were beverage preparations, fresh apples, medicines, iron and steel products, services, plastic products, cereal derivatives, fertilizers, and electrical machinery.

On the other hand, Chile was the fifth destination of Ecuador’s total exports. The main products sent to that country from Ecuador were petroleum, bananas, canned fish, shrimp, leather goods, pineapple, bananas, cocoa, and natural flowers.

This agreement also symbolizes Chile’s support for Ecuador’s intention to join the Pacific Alliance so that it can become a full member depending on the progress of negotiations. Ecuador expects to sign a trade agreement with Mexico to join the regional integration initiative.

With information from Infobae