New Trade Deal Opens Ecuador Market for American Dairy Farmers

Three major dairy organizations are celebrating a new trade agreement between the United States and Ecuador that will eliminate barriers for American dairy exports. The deal removes tariffs, streamlines regulations, and protects common cheese names like parmesan in Ecuador's previously restrictive market.

Three prominent dairy industry organizations celebrated on Friday after the United States and Ecuador signed a new trade agreement that will open doors for American dairy exports in what has historically been a challenging market with high tariffs and restrictive trade policies.

The new deal will remove tariffs on multiple American dairy products, acknowledge U.S. regulatory standards including eliminating facility registration requirements and accepting dairy certificates from American authorities, reform Ecuador’s complex import licensing procedures for farm products, and safeguard 40 commonly-used cheese names such as parmesan. American dairy companies have struggled with these specific issues when trying to enter Ecuador’s market.

“Ecuador has long been a difficult market for U.S. dairy exporters to crack,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “This agreement puts in place the strong nontariff disciplines needed for U.S. dairy exporters of ingredients and various cheeses to make headway in growing their sales to Ecuador, while also improving the tariff landscape in this market.”

“Ambassador Greer, Ambassador Callahan and the USTR team have racked up yet another win for American dairy farmers with this Ecuador agreement,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “With an unprecedented investment in U.S. dairy manufacturing capacity, deals like this are vital to making it easier for international buyers to source the great products our dairy companies are making.”

“The European Union has been working aggressively in Ecuador for several years now to pursue market restrictions impacting sales opportunities for both local product and other non-EU products,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director of CCFN. “Our thanks to the USTR team, in particular Ambassador Callahan, for delivering strong common names protection that will provide greater opportunities to sell U.S. products like ‘parmesan’ and ‘bologna’ in a growing region of Latin America.”

This marks the tenth trade agreement reached by the current Administration that creates new market opportunities for American dairy exports. The National Milk Producers Federation, U.S. Dairy Export Council, and Consortium for Common Food Names have committed to collaborating with the Administration to ensure successful implementation of the agreement’s terms.