Ecuador points to tariff benefits
05/11/2009
Footwear producers from all over Ecuador have called on the government to extend arrangements to apply duty to imported shoes. Companies have argued that the measures that have been in place since January have enabled them to increase their output, use more local leather and employ more people.
A group of industry associations arranged to present the extension proposal to government minister Nathalie Cely on November 5.
The existing tariff arrangement imposes an import duty of $10 per pair of shoes. Local producers say Ecuador's own footwear output has grown by 30% this year as a result.
On average, Ecuador has been producing around 15 million pairs of shoes a year. Industry observers estimate that this will increase by 4.5 million pairs in 2009. However, this would still be short of the country's shoe consumption, estimated at 25 million pairs a year.
Lilia Villavicencio, president of one of the footwear industry assocations, has told local media that she believes the measure will allow the sector to increase the number of people it employs from 80,000 at the start of this year to 100,000 by the end.
In the build-up to the meeting with the minister, she said the footwear industry would emphasise this point in requesting an extension. She explained that other matters the footwear industry representatives planned to raise included the need for the government to increase measures to tackle contraband shoes coming into Ecuador, the need for clearer labelling of shoes for consumers, and the need for easier access to credit for manufacturers.
The benefits have also been felt on the supply side. Wilson Loxano, president of an organisation representing supplier companies, told local media in advance of the meeting with Ms Cely that small, medium and large suppliers had noticed an increase in demand since the import-control measures came into force.
He said it was a good thing that consumers in Ecuador were now choosing good quality locally made shoes that were providing jobs and prosperity for Ecuadorean companies, instead of imported shoes of lower quality. He added that, among his 85 member companies, suppliers of leather in particular had noticed an increase in demand since the tariffs came in.
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