Pescado encocado, a traditional Ecuadorian dish, is fish cooked in a sauce with onions, bell peppers, coconut milk, and cilantro, and served with white rice
Oct 25, 2023
QUITO, ECUADOR – Ecuador has just finalized market access for rough rice exports from the United States, in time to supply the country from our new harvest and to offset their massive shortfall in rice production.
Ecuador plants two rice crops per year; typically, their summer crop is around 371,000 acres but less than half of that was planted this year due to El Niño causing a harsh winter and excessive rains. Ecuador’s rice crop this year is expected to be short about 200,000 tons.
Additionally, Ecuador’s strategic reserves of rice are veritably empty and so this past summer, they looked to expand imports to help with this deficit, bringing in rice from Colombia and other MERCOSUR countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay).
“USA Rice wanted to make sure the U.S. could also supply Ecuador, so in July they immediately got to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to get an approved phytosanitary protocol,” said Todd Burich, chair of the USA Rice Western Hemisphere Trade Policy Subcommittee. “While these importation requirements are interim until final requirements are made, it shows the strong interest Ecuador has in importing U.S. rice.”
The U.S. already had access to Ecuador for milled rice and annually has been shipping 100-200 tons of mostly medium grain. The last substantial shipment of rough rice was 123,000 tons in 1998.