Balance de los efectos de la aplicación del Acuerdo Comercial Ecuador – Unión Europea, una mirada al sector cacaotero ecuatoriano de 2016 a 2022.

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify the impact that the implementation of the trade agreement with the European Union, signed in 2016, had on the cocoa sector in Ecuador. Interviews were made to three actors in the Ecuadorian cocoa sector: Daniel Hernández, who owns a cocoa export company called Grand Sur; Néstor Moran, who is a Pro Ecuador official; and, Merlin Casanova, who is the General Administrator of the National Association of Cocoa Growers of Ecuador, ANECACAO. Likewise, a quantitative analysis of the behavior of the sector was carried out before and after the implementation of the agreement, where data was processed regarding exports in dollars, exports in tons, market share and main clients. To obtain quantitative information, the sources of TradeMap and Banco del Ecuador were used. Once the investigation has been carried out, it is concluded that the implementation of the trade agreement with the European Union undoubtedly had a positive impact on the behavior of the cocoa sector. The international client portfolio of Ecuadorian cocoa grew by 21 %, while its export revenues grew approximately 18 % by 2022.