China signs free trade agreement with Ecuador
90% of the tax items will eliminate tariffs on each other.
The China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement includes a preamble and 17 chapters. Through the free trade agreement, China and Ecuador will achieve a high level of mutual opening up and promote the all-round upgrading of China-Ecuador economic and trade cooperation.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement has made mutually beneficial and win-win arrangements in many aspects such as tariff concessions for trade in goods, customs procedures and trade facilitation, and investment cooperation.
Under the concessional arrangements of the FTA,China and Ecuador will cancel tariffs on 90% of the tax items respectively, of which about 60% will be canceled immediately after the agreement comes into effect.
China's zero-tariff products will fully cover Ecuador's main export products. After the agreement comes into effect, when Ecuador's bananas, white shrimp, fish, fish oil, flowers and dried flowers, cocoa and coffee enter the Chinese market, tariffs will gradually drop from the current 5% to 20% to zero.
At the same time, Ecuador will also implement zero tariffs on major Chinese exports. after the entry into force of the agreement,When most products such as plastic products, chemical fibers, electrical equipment, automobiles and parts made in China enter the Ecuadorian market, tariffs will be gradually reduced and canceled on the basis of the current 5% to 40%.
Interpretation by the person in charge of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce
China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement
Q: What is the significance of the signing of the China-Ecuador FTA?
Answer: The China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement is the 20th free trade agreement signed by China. Ecuador has become China's 27th free trade partner and China's fourth free trade partner in Latin America after Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica.In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Ecuador reached 13.1 billion billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent, and the growth rate exceeded double digits for two consecutive years. China is Ecuador's second largest trading partner.Ecuador is an important economic and trade partner of China in Latin America and a source of imports of agricultural, fishery, energy and mineral products. It is also an important partner in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road. The signing of the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement is a concrete measure to implement the "promotion of high-level opening up" proposed by the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and is a new practice of expanding the network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world.
The China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement will create a more preferential, convenient, transparent and stable business environment for enterprises of the two countries, further stimulate the potential of trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, promote the all-round upgrading of China-Ecuador economic and trade cooperation, and promote the sustained and stable bilateral trade, Diversified development has continuously improved the well-being of the people and enterprises of the two countries. At the same time, the signing of the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement also reflects the common will and firm determination of the two countries to promote trade liberalization and facilitation, and sends a positive signal to the international community to support multilateralism and free trade and promote the stable recovery of the global economy.
Q: Please briefly introduce the negotiation process and main contents of the China-Ecuador FTA.
A: The negotiation and signing of the China-Ecuador FTA is an important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries. The negotiations were launched in February 2022. The Chinese side is led by the Ministry of Commerce, and the Eritrean side is led by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, with the participation of relevant departments. The negotiation teams of the two sides held a total of one ministerial meeting, three directorate-level talks and more than 40 working group consultations in various fields in a year by video. zui finally announced the end of the negotiations in February 2023. Since then, the two sides have jointly completed the legal review and translation of the text of the agreement, and carried out their respective domestic procedures. On May 11, 2023, the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement was formally signed.
The agreement consists of a preamble and 17 chapters. In the field of trade in goods and related rules, it includes six chapters, including national treatment of goods and market access, rules of origin and implementation procedures, customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade. In other areas, including investment cooperation, e-commerce, competition, economic cooperation and other 4 chapters. In addition, the agreement also includes seven legal and institutional chapters, including initial clauses, general definitions, transparency, dispute settlement, management, exceptions, and final clauses, as well as six annexes, including exceptions to national treatment and import and export restrictions, tariff commitments, Andean price range system, product-specific rules of origin, certificates of origin, and rules of arbitration procedures.
Q: What arrangements have been made by the two sides in terms of tariff concessions on trade in goods?
Answer: In terms of tariff concessions on trade in goods, the two sides have reached mutually beneficial and win-win results on a high-level basis. According to the concession arrangement, China and Ecuador will cancel tariffs on 90% of the tax items respectively, of which about 60% will cancel tariffs immediately after the agreement comes into effect. In terms of specific products, China's zero-tariff products will fully cover Ecuador's main export products. After the agreement comes into effect, when Ecuador's bananas, white shrimp, fish, fish oil, flowers and dried flowers, cocoa and coffee enter the Chinese market, The tariff will gradually drop from the current 5%-20% to zero. At the same time, the Eritrean side will also implement zero tariffs on China's main export products, and after the agreement enters into force,When most products made in China, such as plastic products, chemical fibers, steel products, mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, furniture decoration, automobiles and parts, enter the Eritrean market, tariffs will be gradually reduced and canceled on the basis of the current 5%-40%.
Q: What are the rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation in the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement?
A: With regard to origin, the Agreement mainly provides for two aspects. First, the rules of origin, the standard of origin, cumulative and regional value components, small content, small processing and handling, interchangeable materials, neutral components, packaging materials and containers, spare parts and tools, complete sets of goods, direct transport and other rules made detailed provisions. The second is the implementation procedure of origin, which makes specific requirements for the format, issuance and preservation of origin documents, the obligations of the importer, the verification of origin, and the electronic exchange of origin data.
With regard to customs procedures and trade facilitation, the agreement, on the basis of WTO rules, makes specific provisions on facilitation, tariff classification, transparency, pre-adjudication, risk management and release of goods, so as to simplify customs clearance procedures as much as possible and provide efficient and fast services for enterprises. At the same time, the two sides will further deepen customs cooperation and strengthen information exchange and communication and coordination.
Q: What are the contents of the China-Ecuador FTA in terms of trade remedies?
Answer: While implementing high-level opening up, the agreement has also made relevant arrangements for trade remedies and set a "safety valve" for market opening ". The agreement reaffirms the relevant rights and obligations of both parties under the WTO, and provides for anti-dumping and countervailing measures, global safeguard measures, bilateral safeguard measures, and procedures, standards, investigation procedures and transparency, interim measures, notifications and consultations, Compensation and other further detailed provisions.
Q: What are the main provisions of the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade?
Answer: The two sides agreed to further strengthen communication and cooperation between the competent departments of the two countries in the field of sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade on the basis of WTO rules. With regard to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, the agreement reaffirms the relevant rights and obligations of both parties under the WTO, and further provides for risk analysis, regionalization, equivalence, and transparency. With regard to technical barriers to trade, on the basis of reaffirming the relevant rights and obligations of both parties under the WTO, the agreement further makes specific provisions on standards, equivalence, conformity assessment, transparency, information exchange, and technical cooperation.
Q: For other areas, what arrangements have been made in the China-Ecuador FTA?
Answer: In the field of investment cooperation, the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in investment promotion and investment facilitation, mainly including sharing and exchanging investment information, improving the transparency of the investment environment, simplifying application approval procedures, etc., and also including environmental measures and corporate social responsibility. And other sustainable development provisions.
In the field of e-commerce, the two sides have made regulations on transparency, electronic transactions, electronic authentication and signature, online consumer protection, personal information protection, paperless transactions, uninvited commercial electronic information, network equipment, network security cooperation, data innovation, etc., to encourage enterprises of the two countries, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to open up markets through e-commerce.
In the field of competition, on the basis of recognizing the independence of competition law enforcement, the two sides have reached an agreement on the principles of law enforcement, transparency, law enforcement cooperation, notification, consultation, information exchange, technical cooperation and consumer protection, with the aim of creating a good business environment by strengthening exchanges and cooperation and promoting trade and investment exchanges between enterprises of the two countries.
In the field of economic cooperation, the two sides agreed to encourage cooperation between government authorities, industry and related institutions in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, export promotion, tourism, science and technology and innovation, education, culture, traditional medicine, and the environment.
In addition, in the future, the two sides will further negotiate in areas of common interest to upgrade the FTA.
Q: When is the China-Ecuador FTA expected to take effect?
A: After the signing of the agreement, the two sides will carry out their respective domestic legal approval procedures to promote the early entry into force of the agreement. We will publish the text on the China Free Trade Zone Service Network (http://fta.mofcom.gov.cn) for public inquiry and reference.
Source | Foreign shipping, Ministry of Commerce website, business micro news, etc.
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