Montgomery Sanchez Ordoñez, an Assembly Member and Vice President of the Commission on Oversight and Political Control of the National Assembly, said the banana sector had accepted the reduction of the price of a box of bananas, from $6.55 to $6.16, because they were aware that some external factors had depressed the world economy, especially in the countries buying bananas.
However, the legislator expressed his disagreement with the drafting of the Ministerial Resolution No. 350 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAGAP), issued on December 23, 2015, because he believes it does not conform to the provisions established by law to stimulate the production and marketing of bananas (Banana Law) and its regulations.
He added the agreement states that producers of up to 30 hectares will be paid the minimum support price of $6.16, and that the producer with more than 30 hectares have the possibility of negotiating with the exporters. The law does not make this distinction and requires that all producers, regardless of their acreage, be paid the official price of a box of bananas.
The assemblyman said he found a contradiction in the agreement as it states that it is compulsory for all banana traders or exporters to acquire at least 15% of the total weekly export quota to producers with up to 30 hectares, while the banana law, issued on July 11 2011, by President Rafael Correa, established that the exporter will buy 100% of the producer's total banana production during the 52 weeks of the year and that if the exporter does not buy 100% of the contracted fruit, he shall be required to pay the producer the value corresponding to the boxes he did not buy.
He also stated that the demand for fruit abroad had increased, which in turn increased the price of a box of bananas, and that this increase should reach producers, so they should be paid more than the minimum price of $6.16 so that, when the demand and the price of a box decreases, there is an average price like the one set in the Agreement. Edgar Cordova, assemblyman for the province of El Oro, spoke with Sanchez to discuss the situation of the banana sector.
The assemblymen said there should be a single contract governed by MAGAP so that it is respected by all parts, and requested that both Military Intelligence and the Police discovered the defaults in payments. In addition, they said they had been informed that certain contracts would be signed below the official price, that is, at $5.20 and $5.85, which would affect the banana producers, and that the exporters who violated the law had to be punished with the permanent suspension of their export permits and that the producers had to report violations.
Both lawmakers said they were ready to receive these allegations, with evidence, regarding breaches of contract, since many producers didn't report said cases for fear of reprisals. They also stated that there were exporters who obeyed the law and who were affected by this unfair competition.
