The Ecuadorian shrimp industry believes that the new procedures, resulting from the new regulations on substances, will have a significant impact on the costs of its value chain.
Photo: Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture.
Starting January 1, any individual or legal entity that uses sodium metabisulfite—a key substance in the shrimp industry, where it is used as a preservative—in Ecuador must have a mandatory qualification. If there are no changes to the current regulations, this control measure, ordered to prevent its possible diversion to illegal activities, will have a direct impact on the competitiveness of the Ecuadorian shrimp industry.
The warning about what the new regulation could entail came from Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), which, after emphasizing that the shrimp sector supports security, expressed its rejection of the procedure for obtaining this classification established by Ecuador's Undersecretary of Administration and Control of Controlled Substances.
According to the CNA, the implementation of new controls on sodium metabisulfite would involve the creation of a new waybill—a mandatory electronic tax document that supports the legal movement of goods and merchandise within Ecuador—and an additional tax that, according to warnings from the shrimp sector, would generate a cost of close to USD 4 million annually.
Sodium metabisulfite is used in marine shrimp farming to prevent melanosis (black spots) and extend shelf life. Its use is key to maintaining color and quality, but it must be regulated due to allergy risks and compliance with maximum limits set by health authorities.
Therefore, as highlighted in the note from Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture, in the shrimp industry, sodium metabisulfite is a fully legitimate and safe input, used as a preservative to prevent oxidation and decomposition of the product.
Under the new regulations, to obtain the necessary qualification for use, shrimp farmers must now follow several steps to submit forms electronically, including paying the so-called qualification fee.
However, the CNA pointed out that the sector already has traceability systems in place that rigorously record the handling of its inputs, including sodium metabisulfite. Therefore, it considers it unnecessary to establish an additional procedure that would be complex to comply with, especially for small and medium-sized producers.
The CNA proposes that, instead of implementing a new waybill to declare its use—creating an additional document that would increase the operational and economic burden—the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) waybill should be used, incorporating the necessary fields for registering metabisulfite.
Likewise, Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture also requests that the Administration review the fee associated with the new waybill, given that it does not constitute a direct service to producers and would have a significant impact on the costs of the value chain.
"The new waybill would be worth USD 6.58 per emission. For large companies, this would mean an annual expense of between USD 30,000 and 50,000 per day. Across the entire sector, the aggregate cost would exceed USD 4 million per year. This would have a direct impact on competitiveness," said José Antonio Camposano, Executive President of the CNA.
This optimization of the current SRI waybill—incorporating the necessary fields to register metabisulfite without adding paperwork or costs for producers—is specifically the second of three immediate measures proposed by the sector to prevent the announced application from generating unnecessary burdens.
The first is to request an extension of the implementation deadline set for January 1, 2026, allowing for an orderly and technically feasible adjustment. The third is to review the charging scheme so that a measure aimed at chemical control does not result in a recurring cost that affects the competitiveness of the country's main non-oil export sector.
Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture concluded its statement by saying that shrimp farmers are confident that, as in previous experiences, technical solutions will be found to strengthen controls without harming the shrimp value chain.