End in sight for Ecuador-Brazil shoe stand-off
19/12/2018
In the second half of 2018, Ecuador reimposed tariffs and strict label-of-origin requirements on imported footwear from Brazil, adding new layers of bureaucracy and additional costs of up to $6 per pair for manufacturers, which is proving enough to put companies off.
Ecuador’s government first imposed these measures in August 2017 but halted them between December 2017 and June 2018. According to Heitor Klein, president of Abicalçados, this was a retaliatory gesture following the imposition by Brazil on strict controls over imports of Ecuadorian seafood.
Mr Klein held a meeting with the president of Brazil’s supreme federal court, José Antonio Dias Toffoli, in mid-December and reported afterwards that the Brazilian government is merely waiting for some risk analysis documentation from its fisheries department before lifting the restrictions on imports of Ecuadorian seafood. It is Mr Klein’s hope that this will lead to a swift end to the reciprocal measures affecting shoes.
He said the impasse with Ecuador has already cost Brazilian shoe manufacturers $20 million.
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