• by IPS Correspondents (quito)
• Monday, December 19, 1994
• Inter Press Service

QUITO, Dic 19 (IPS) - A trade agreement between Ecuador and Chile will reduce tariffs on 403 products of mutual interest beginning Tuesday, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

Immediate tariff reductions are to be made on shrimp, prawns, tuna-fish, bananas, cacao, chemicals, wood and wood products.

The trade liberalisation plan calls for tariffs to be reduced gradually, reaching zero by Jan. 1, 1998.

Tariffs on another list of products will fall more slowly, reaching zero in the year 2000, while each country's most sensitive products will be excepted from the plan.

In the automotive sector, auto parts, vehicles with capacity of up to 10 passengers and cargo and tourism vehicles will all reach zero tariffs by Jan. 1, 1997.

The pact also allows foreign trade cargo unrestricted access to sea transport, and permits airlines in both nations to offer regular passenger, cargo and postal transport services.

Ecuador recognises Chile's active role in the region, with its recent membership in the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation agreement and future membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Meanwhile, with exports of goods and services accounting for some 40 percent of its gross domestic product, Chile has one of the world's most open economies.

The trade liberalisation agreement with Chile is the first one Ecuador has signed with a country outside the Andean Pact.

Ecuador has benefitted from increasing bilateral trade in 1994. Between January and August, Ecuador's exports increased 39.14 percent and imports - including petroleum - rose 12.8 percent over the same period of 1993.

The agreement was announced Monday as Chilean Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Insulza's arrived in Quito to meet with Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballen, various ministers and members of the business community.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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