Panama and Ecuador set a path toward trade agreement negotiations

Panama and Ecuador have taken the first step toward negotiating a Partial-Scope Economic Complementation Agreement, signing the terms of reference that will guide their bilateral trade talks.

The document sets the political and technical framework for the negotiations. They will take place under the Latin American Integration Association, known as ALADI, and follow the 1980 Treaty of Montevideo and the countries’ obligations under the World Trade Organization.

The proposal calls for gradual and balanced commitments designed to strengthen and diversify trade between the two countries. The first stage would address market access for goods, rules of origin, trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade defense, institutional matters and dispute settlement.

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Panama has many capabilities that allow us to complement this business sector and this relationship through our geographic position, maritime and air connectivity, as well as the ports that can be put to greater use.

The framework also leaves open the possibility of adding services, digital trade, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and investment through complementary instruments. Panama’s Trade and Industries Minister Julio Moltó and Ecuador’s Minister of Economic and Productive Development Sahira Moya signed the terms of reference.

Moltó said the document would organize the relationship according to both countries’ mutual interests, priorities and laws. He also highlighted Panama’s geographic position, maritime and air connectivity, and ports as assets that could complement Ecuadorian businesses.

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The signed terms of reference will allow us to guide, in an orderly and mutually agreed manner, the relations that both countries consider relevant, always in accordance with mutual interest, priorities and the legal systems of the two nations.