The Ecuadorian tuna sector was offered a new alternative by the United States, which would allow a rapid rebate for tuna fished by Ecuador-flagged vessels. So any tuna caught by vessels carrying flags from countries such as the United States, Taiwan, Korea or Spain would be excluded.
Should Ecuador accept the US offer, they would gain immediate access to the their lucrative market, but for only a limited amount of canned tuna. The main drawback is that the Ecuadorian fleet catches only 50 per cent of its canned products, that is to say, around 150,000 tons. The country processes a total 300,000 tons of tuna, thanks to the contribution of imported products from Panamanian, Venezuelan, and Mexican vessels.
The U.S. proposal seems attractive for companies like NIRSA and Inepaca which both own their own large purse seiner fleet under local flag. However these companies are hardly exporting any canned tuna to the U.S. today.
The main canned exports from Ecuador to the U.S. are produced by plants leased by Delmonte – Starkist in Quayaquil. These plants process pouches and cans of tuna from Ecuadorian fish, but also from imported fish from U.S., Spanish, Korean and Taiwanese vessels.
Currently, only the Ecuadorian tuna packaged in retort pouches the US with a zero-tariff. The same product, canned in oil or water, must pay a 12 to 35 per cent tariff until it is included in the list of zero-tariff products, some 10 years from now.
Despite the fact that the U.S is an important canned tuna export market for Ecuador, by exporting between 40 and 45 per cent of its domestic production to that market, Ecuadorian stakeholders oppose the US proposal.
Members of the government are not enthusiastic either. For the Ecuadorian chief negotiator, Cristian Espinosa, the US offer is not viable, expressing his opinion to his US counterpart when the latter informed him on the proposal.