Ecuador to Lift 21% Duty on Colombian Imports
Ecuador will cancel a 21-percent tariff on imports from Colombia by the end of the month, the Colombian trade ministry said late on Wednesday, reversing an effort to shield its economy from an influx of cheap goods. Ecuador, which has been hit by the steep drop in the price of oil, its biggest export, imposed tariffs on imports from Colombia and Peru in January as a result of depreciating currencies in those two nations that made their products cheaper. "In accordance with the commitment made by the Ecuadorian government, the measure will cease to be valid on February 27 at the latest," the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism said in a statement. Ecuador, the smallest member of OPEC, had also levied a 7 percent duty on imports from Peru. Ecuador, which uses the U.S.
Dangerous Business: Ecuadorian Fishing Fleet to Fit Tracker System
Leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, Globalstar, says that its Value Added Reseller, VehSmart, of Victorville, California, has been awarded the first regional pilot project of its kind for Ecuador, which will outfit the Ecuadorian artisanal fishing fleet with life-saving satellite tracking and emergency notification devices. The project will initially outfit 4,000 small fishing boats with Globalstar's leading satellite transmitter, the SmartOne. SmartOne devices will provide Ecuadorian fishermen and women with a means for help at sea when facing a life-threatening emergency including piracy. By linking to Ecuador's National Emergency Response System…
Perenco Negotiates with Ecuador Government
Perenco Ecuador Limited has called on the Government of Ecuador to cease efforts to sell oil seized from Blocks 7 and 21 in defiance of orders by international arbitration tribunals, and instead to seek a negotiated solution to the dispute concerning the applicability of Law 42. Perenco Ecuador is the Operator of the two blocks in question. On February 19, 2009, the Republic of Ecuador and its oil company, Empresa Estatal Petroleos del Ecuador ("Petroecuador"), commenced a coercive process to collect from Perenco approximately $327 million they claimed were due under a 2006 Ecuadorian law ("Law 42") by which the government asserts a right to 99% of the oil revenues above an arbitrary "reference price." In March 2009…
