![](media/image1.png){width="0.7201388888888889in"
height="0.7645833333333333in"}U.S. Department of Commerce

International Trade Administration - U.S. Export Assistance Center

950 22^nd^ Street North, Suite 707, Birmingham, AL 35203-5309

Phone: 205-731-1331 Fax: 205-731-0076

<Office.Birmingham@mail.doc.gov> http://www.buyusa.gov/alabama

[George Norton, USEAC Director\
]{.underline}

Nelda Segars, International Trade Specialist\
Michael Higgins (Tallahassee Office)

**ECUADORIAN CUSTOMS REFORM - ELIMINATION OF PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTIONS**

**Andres Gonzalez - November 07**

Summary

U.S. exporters to Ecuador should be aware of recent changes in customs
procedures that will be effective in coming weeks. The Government of
Ecuador (GOE) recently passed a new Customs law eliminating pre-shipment
inspection (PSI) regime. Under PSI, all goods exported to Ecuador from
the U.S. (or any other country) had to be physically inspected by a
verifier in the port of origin prior to being shipped to Ecuador.

The PSI requirement on shipments over \$4,000 will soon be expunged
altogether, along with verifiers, and replaced by a risk analysis system
run by the Ecuadorian Customs Agency (CAE). Under this system, all
importers will fall into pre-defined risk profiles. Importers with good
track records will be identified as low-risk; their cargoes will rarely
be inspected and will be released with minimum delays upon arrival in
Ecuador. For low-risk companies, the new system will ease and expedite
the process. On the other hand, physical inspection will be required for
all goods coming from what the Customs Agency considers to be high-risk
importers. This inspection will be conducted by customs officials at the
port of entry in Ecuador. High-risk importers will be classified as
such, based on past compliance and import history.

On the positive side, the good news for U.S. exporters and Ecuadorian
importers purchasing goods from the U.S. is that the reform includes
ostensibly streamlined customs processes in an effort to reduce the time
required by importers to take goods out of customs. Currently, once the
goods arrive at the U.S. port of debarkation, the process of getting the
verifier to check the shipment, prepare and send the documents to
Ecuador, then having Ecuadorian Customs confirm that the inspection has
taken place, etc., and send the documents back to the U.S. port, takes
several days. Then, when the goods eventually arrive in Ecuadorian
Customs, the procedure (inspection, tax payment, clearance) takes
between ten to twelve days, as opposed to five days in other countries.

Additionally, the GOE states that PSI elimination will reduce import
costs, as the inspection has had to be paid entirely by the importer. As
a result, importers would potentially be able to pass these savings on
to the end-user, a welcome benefit in a very price-sensitive market such
as Ecuador. On the other hand, supporters of PSI are concerned about how
corruption might affect the new risk analysis system.

The Government of Ecuador and CAE will be working in coming weeks on the
details and regulations for this reform to be implemented.

**Resources & Contacts**

Ecuadorian Customs Agency / Corporación Aduanera Ecuadoriana (CAE)
[http://www.aduana.gov.ec](http://www.aduana.gov.ec/)1