A delegation from the National Government, headed by the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, Iván Ontaneda, visits the People's Republic of China on Monday, September 16. There they will meet with representatives of the General Administration of Customs of that country, with the purpose of achieving the lifting of the restriction for the entry of shrimp from Ecuador.

 

At a press conference, Minister Ontaneda said that one of the proposals will be to invite the authorities of the Customs of China to visit the country to verify, in situ, the quality of the processes and the chain in the production of shrimp.

 

To date, five Ecuadorian companies have been sanctioned with the suspension of their exports to China.

 

“We will talk about the malaise, the commercial impact that this measure generates in our country. We are the first shrimp supplier for China and sales exceed USD 660 million, representing 47% of non-oil exports as of June 2019. Our proposal is to lift the restrictions imposed according to WTO SPS regulations. We must negotiate on the imposition of the export certificate asking China for its mitigation project together with our country,” he emphasized.

 

Ontaneda pointed out that the Ecuadorian shrimp enters international markets with the most demanding requirements, and that the country issues an export certificate that provides the necessary physical, chemical and microbiological guarantees in order to support product excellence.

 

Since 2017, a Aquatic Health and Epidemiological Surveillance Plan has been implemented in aquaculture production, which is applied to all production establishments with the objective of demonstrating the absence of diseases, determining the presence or distribution of an endemic disease, favoring control and provide relevant information about any inconvenience to the different business partners.

 

The minister stressed that the shrimp sector meets all sanitary requirements, since it not only reaches the Chinese market, but also several destinations around the world, meeting high levels of quality. It is for these reasons that exports increased between 2013 and 2018 at an average annual rate of 58%.

 

Ontaneda pointed out that Ecuador and China have always maintained cordial relations, and that he is optimistic of an equitable and fair solution to the current impasse.