Ecuador won the support of eight countries for a trade agreement with the European Union which could be signed as early as November, stated the Minister of Foreign Trade, Juan Carlos Cassinelli, on Monday.
"I can assure the country that the trade agreement with the European Union is stronger today than it has ever been," said the minister at a press conference. "The tentative date we have for the signing of the agreement is november 11, after that it has to be ratified."
He said the country has the support of Denmark, Spain, France, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden.
Cassinelli said he expected to set up a meeting with the President of the Council of the European Union, Miroslav Lajak, this week in New York, to see that they meet the schedule agreed upon.
He stressed that Ecuador had successfully responded to nine comments made by the European Union, regarding such questions as import quotas of European cars, safeguards, and limits to contract reinsurance, among others.
Ecuador wants to achieve a trade agreement with Europe because at the end of the year the tariff preferences that benefit Ecuadorian products exported to Europe will end.
The tariff preferences benefit, among other things, bananas - Ecuador's main non-oil export product to the eurozone with 20% of the total - followed by seafood products with more than 19% and flowers with almost 5%.
The European Union is the main destination of Ecuador's non-oil exports, which amounted to 2,981 million dollars in 2014.
Cassinelli and Vice President Jorge Glas recently finished a tour of Europe to promote the trade agreement.
Source: Associated Press