The sector will also seek recognition of the country's efforts in paying the living wage, for which it started a campaign before participating in the forum.

With pressure from its European clients, the supermarket chains, to pay less and less for fruit, the Ecuadorian banana sector focuses on making visible in the Old Continent the work that the actors in the chain carry out.

For example, to pay a decent wage, one of the arguments of the sector before the Europeans is that they operate under a fair trade methodology (Fairtrade) and that a fair price be paid for the box of bananas, whose minimum support price ( PMS) was set at US$6.85 for this year, marking an increase of US$0.35 per box compared to the 2023 price.

The European Union is the first destination for Ecuadorian bananas. Last January, that market absorbed 29.93% of the 32.41 million boxes exported to all destinations that month, but according to José Antonio Hidalgo, executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), until to date, only two supermarket chains are managed under the Fairtrade methodology.

“The other supermarkets still do not use it, so it is worth having a position so that everyone aligns with the use of that methodology for the fair price,” said Hidalgo.

The stage to do so is approaching, the Fourth Global Conference of the World Banana Forum to be held from March 11 to 14 in Rome, Italy, the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Hidalgo pointed out that the Ecuadorian delegation, which will attend under the name of the Banana Cluster of Ecuador, will arrive with three points at the event. The first is precisely that other supermarkets use the fair trade methodology as a reference for determining prices.

Another point, explained the head of AEBE, is that it be recognized that there are two ways to reach a living wage: through State policies such as Ecuador has and the other through collective contracting.

“Ecuador complies with the living wage with its national wage policy, there are spaces for socialization through the Labor Committee and our labor law is robust and advanced and this is what must be highlighted,” said Hidalgo.

"ECUADOR WILL PROPOSAL CREATION OF A TECHNICAL SUBCOMMITTEE TO RATIONALIZE CERTIFICATIONS"

He highlighted, as an example, that the Global Living Wage Coalition determined that Ecuador had to comply with US$ 489 in 2023, “but we with the calculation of what the worker receives between basic salary, fourteenth, thirteenth, plus funds of reserve in 2023 US$ 562.5 was received, which means that we overcome the gap, and Ecuador is an example of this with the other banana producing countries and we want that to be ratified, to recognize Ecuador's efforts and that they take that consideration that we have that differentiation that supermarkets must consider when purchases are generated.”

The last point, added Hidalgo, is the over-certification that occurs in the European market due to the appearance of different schemes regarding banana imports.

The leader assured that this translates into more audit days and more administrative burden for producers who must comply with the seals and certifications that each of the supermarkets ask of them. “We have done an analysis, all these schemes required in Europe have an overlap of 60%,” revealed the executive director of AEBE.

He indicated that the sector will recommend in Rome a rationalization process to have fewer days of audits and less burden for producers, through the creation of a technical subcommittee of the World Banana Forum within the framework of the FAO, where the certifiers commit to work on this process.

“This is what we want to achieve, to give a working framework to the industry at a global level and all banana producers have united around that request, to be able to be unified towards the other links in the chain that have to recognize these efforts. “Hidalgo concluded.

ECUADOR'S BANANA SECTOR STARTED A NETWORK CAMPAIGN BEFORE THE FORUM

Meanwhile, a few days before the forum in Rome, the banana sector began a network campaign with several messages that address the themes and requests that Hidalgo referred to and that they will present at the conference. “Will the burden of excessive certifications on Latin American producers continue? From March 11 to 14, during the Fourth Global Conference of the World Banana Forum, we expect actions!”, posted the Banana Cluster of Ecuador on its X account (formerly Twitter).

The AEBE account also posted: “Will European retailers continue to ignore the legislation and processes of Latin American countries? From March 11 to 14, during the Fourth World Conference of the World Banana Forum, we expect actions!”

While in that of the Banana Marketing and Export Association of Ecuador (Acorbanec) it was also posted: “Will European retailers continue without paying the fair price for Latin American bananas? From March 11 to 14, during the Fourth Global Conference of the World Banana Forum, we expect actions!”