When Ecuadorian immigrants send their families in South America a little extra something during the holiday season, customs officials back home feather their nests and pretend to be very “strict.”
Unscrupulous Ecuadorian customs authorities have been levying unjust duties on small packages sent into the country by expatriates who use U.S.-based courier services that also send the monetary remittances, which sustain Ecuador’s torpid economy.
According to the law, a package that weighs up to four pounds is exempt from any duties. However, the Ecuadorian Customs Corporation (CAE) begins to scrutinize and detain packages around the holidays, in most cases unreasonably so. As a result, courier agencies suffer, and some have even gone bankrupt in the past. Courier agencies dealing with shoddy customs practices are unable to pay their own employees and at the same time are unable to deliver packages and money to expectant Ecuadorian families in South America.
The owners of businesses that specialize in sending packages and remittances to Ecuador in the tri-state area are extremely frustrated by the situation. They called for all the owners of such agencies to meet to form a united front to protest before the press and the people. The management of these businesses know all too well that if a special “tip” isn’t given to the appropriate authorities, packages will remain stuck in customs offices for months, without being delivered to their legitimate owners who are anxiously awaiting them. Sometimes, packages even contain medicines, and the authorities’ unethical practices actually put people’s lives at risk. All this is in the name of money and the abuse of power.
On a Thursday in November, representatives from about 90 percent of the courier and remittance agencies in the tri-state area gathered to address this serious and problematic issue that affects an entire immigrant community. While in other countries customs officials take two hours to a full day to process goods, the group asserted, in Ecuador, they often take more than a month. Furthermore, inspectors are barely trained, although some agency staff remarked that officials seem to know quite a bit about the arts of coercion and bribery.
One member of the group claimed that small packages worth 99 cents are at times appraised at $5.00 by Ecuadorian authorities. “It is us, the courier companies, who have to pay, and for this reason, we are currently operating at a loss.” Likewise, a packet that weighs four pounds is given a value of $20, $30 or $40, generating an unusually high duty.
The group also met with the Ecuadorian General Consul of New York, Colonel David Molina, who told them that “nothing could be done at the moment, until this issue is brought to the forefront with a formal complaint.”
Nonetheless, understanding the vital role that it plays in Ecuador’s economy, the newly-founded group is ready to put up a fight and raise awareness about the problem at hand. Members talked about a month-long strike to protest the corrupt customs practices, but will first exhaust all other legal channels available to them.
People can directly file complaints with Ecuadorian customs authorities at:
Corporación de Aduanas Ecuatorianas
Contact: Oswaldo Espinosa
011-5934-228-7827
011-5934-228-7834
ext. 4014
