USRPA Plays Crucial Role In Ecuadorean Market Opening

KATY, TEXAS

Earlier this week, Ecuador’s AgroCalidad finalized their initial entry requirements for U.S. rough rice, a direct result of a reverse trade servicing trip hosted by USRPA last month. As we shared in a previous edition of the Rice Advocate, USRPA hosted a group of Ecuadorean rice millers and two AgroCalidad officials in mid-September with stops in Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Their knowledge of the market outside of Ecuador has been extremely limited until Spring 2023, when CORPCOM, Ecuador’s millers’ association, invited USRPA to a series of virtual meetings to discuss Western Hemisphere market conditions and the outlook for the 2023 U.S. harvest. Plans grew from there for a reverse trade servicing trip. While some industry members objected to the visit, USRPA moved forward knowing the opportunity could not be missed. The site visits culminated with a meeting between APHIS and AgroCalidad at the end of the week. With the Ecuadorean industry leaders quite pleased with the trip, USRPA staff was optimistic that this week’s announcement would come to fruition.

 “On behalf of CORPCOM, we want to thank the USRPA for putting together an excellent week of meetings that are so important for the whole Ecuadorean rice supply chain, especially the end consumer,” said Juan Pablo Zuniga, president of CORPCOM. “This will strengthen our relations with U.S. rice farmers, taking into consideration our current needs due to the situation caused by the El Niño phenomenon.”

 The resulting purchases will be the country’s first since the late 90’s. USRPA is proud to have been instrumental in bringing U.S. rough rice back into Ecuador and thanks our partners at USDA and APHIS for their support in the process.∆