Ineficacia del procedimiento sancionatorio dentro del sector bananero y su impacto en la seguridad jurídica.

Abstract

The Ecuadorian banana sector constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of the national economy, being the second largest export product after oil and a primary source of employment and livelihood for thousands of families. However, its structure exhibits a marked oligopolistic character, in which a small number of companies concentrate bargaining power over banana production and commercialization, generating asymmetric contractual relationships that directly affect producers. In this context, the Banana Law, enacted in 2004, sought to regulate banana-related activities and guarantee fair commercialization conditions, including the enforcement of a minimum support price per box of bananas. Nevertheless, in practice, this minimum price is indirectly undermined through the application of unauthorized deductions imposed by commercialization agents, a conduct expressly classified as an administrative infringement under Article 7 of the Banana Law. Despite its legal recognition, this provision lacks regulatory development and a specific administrative procedure that enables producers to effectively report such practices, substantiate the economic harm suffered, and recover the amounts unlawfully deducted. The absence of clearly defined procedural mechanisms creates a legal vacuum that weakens the enforceability of the minimum price, fosters administrative impunity, and undermines the principle of legal certainty, a cornerstone of the constitutional rule of law. As a result, banana producers face a situation of legal defenselessness that compromises their economic stability, restricts access to fair commercial conditions, and erodes trust in state institutions. The legal analysis conducted, based on historical-logical, doctrinal, and correlational methods, demonstrates that the lack of defined administrative procedures for the application of Article 7 significantly affects the effective protection of producers’ rights. Consequently, this study highlights the urgent need to reform the Ecuadorian banana regulatory framework by incorporating clear procedural rules, effective sanctions, and economic restitution mechanisms that ensure the real enforcement of Article 7 and provide comprehensive protection to the banana-producing sector against unauthorized deductions.