Importing raw materials and fuels into Ecuador.

Inputs and fuels face the lowest duties in Ecuador, and listed inputs pay half the usual ISD. The harder part is the fuel market, opened to private importers in 2020 but shaped by state prices. Here is the tariff, the taxes, the fuel rules after the subsidy reforms, the permits and the Paraguayan angle.

Low duties, a state-shaped fuel market.

Industrial inputs are the cheapest goods to bring into Ecuador. Most chemicals, resins, metals and fertiliser inputs sit in the lowest tariff bands, many fuels pay no duty at all, and listed raw materials pay ISD at 2.5% instead of 5% on the payment to the supplier in 2026. The friction is regulatory: fuel imports have been open to private companies since 2020 but are still dominated by the state company EP Petroecuador, fertilisers and agrochemicals need Agrocalidad registration, and chemicals that can be diverted to drug production need prior authorisation.

This article covers the tariff on inputs and fuels, the taxes, how fuel imports and prices work after the subsidy reforms of 2024–2025, the permits, and what Paraguayan suppliers should know. The general tax stack is in our guide to importing into Ecuador in 2026.

Low bands, but check the line.

Ecuador’s tariff is built to protect finished goods and keep inputs cheap. Raw materials and intermediate goods that are not produced locally are mostly at 0% or 5%, and 128 lines were cut to 0% in 2021. Products that compete with domestic industry, such as some plastic articles, finished steel products and processed chemicals, carry higher rates. Always check the ten-digit NANDINA line: polypropylene enters at 0% as a resin and at 15% as tubes.

Check for trade-defence measures on your exact line before quoting; the most disruptive recent measure was political rather than technical: the 2026 “security fee” on Colombian goods, which reached 100% in May and was repealed on 1 June. The China agreement in force since May 2024 is phasing out duties on many Chinese inputs.

Law and practice: COMEX Resolution 002-2023 (national tariff), chapters 28, 31 and 39 as published by E-Aduana; SENAE Resolution SENAE-SENAE-2026-0051-RE (repeal of the security fee).

Zero on the main fuels.

Gasoline of every octane grade, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, fuel oil and LPG all enter at 0%. Duties appear on finished lubricants, some heavy oils and crude. For lubricants the line matters: base oils pay 0%, finished motor oils and greases generally 10%. There is no ICE on fuels in Ecuador; the government’s fuel revenue and subsidy policy work through the regulated sale price instead.

Law and practice: National tariff, chapter 27.

FODINFA, VAT, and the 2.5% list.

All imports pay the 0.5% FODINFA levy on the CIF value and 15% VAT on CIF plus duty and FODINFA, credited against the importer’s output VAT. The difference for inputs is the ISD. In 2026 an executive decree sets a 2.5% rate on payments abroad for listed raw materials and inputs, against the general 5%, and the list was expanded in June. Since 2025 ISD on imports is no longer creditable against income tax, so the lower rate is a real saving.

The example shows why the ISD list matters more than the tariff for inputs: on a 5% line such as industrial gases, from Paraguay with full preference, the only costs left are FODINFA and ISD. A free zone removes duty, VAT and ISD altogether for processing operations.

Law and practice: Executive Decree 272 (ISD rates 2026) and its June 2026 amendment; check whether your input is on the 2.5% ISD list.

Open on paper, Petroecuador in practice.

Until 2020, EP Petroecuador held a de facto monopoly on fuel imports. Executive Decree 1158 of September 2020 allowed any company legally established in Ecuador, Ecuadorian or foreign-owned, to import petroleum derivatives, provided the fuel meets INEN quality standards; the regulator set a tariff for using Petroecuador’s storage, pipelines and terminals. Six private companies received import authorisations in the first round, and the first private import of 95-octane gasoline arrived in December 2022.

The opening was limited by price controls: private importers could not compete on fuels the state sold below cost. That changed in two steps. Extra and Ecopaís gasoline moved from a frozen price to a monthly band in mid-2024, and Executive Decree 126 ended the diesel subsidy on 13 September 2025, raising the price from US$1.80 to US$2.80 per gallon before diesel too moved into the band in December 2025. The band caps rises at 5% a month, so when world prices jumped in 2026 the state was subsidising diesel again — by about US$1.93 per gallon in May. Private imports of regulated fuels therefore remain exposed to a price ceiling the state can absorb and a private importer cannot.

Fuel regulation sits with the Agencia de Regulación y Control de Hidrocarburos (ARCH), recreated in 2024 when the combined energy regulator ARCERNNR was split back into separate hydrocarbon, electricity and mining agencies. Fuel import and marketing activities need ARCH authorisation, and ARCH monitors supply on behalf of the state. Specialised fuels — aviation, marine, high-octane and industrial grades — are where private importers have the clearest commercial room.

Law and practice: Executive Decrees 1158 (24 September 2020), 256 (8 May 2024, separation of the regulators) and 126 (diesel subsidy, in force 13 September 2025).

Agrocalidad, controlled chemicals and INEN.

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  Fertilisers and soil amendments

  Registered with Agrocalidad under its technical manual for fertilisers; even samples above 20 kg or 20 litres need an import permit, at US$38.64 plus VAT.

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  Pesticides and active ingredients

  Product registration with Agrocalidad and an import permit per operation, valid six months, under Andean Decision 804.

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  Controlled chemicals

  Substances on the list of chemicals subject to control under the 2015 drugs-prevention law need a prior qualification of the importer and an authorisation per import; check the current list and authority before shipping solvents and acids.

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  Fuels and lubricants

  Quality to INEN standards; ARCH authorisation for the activity.

Agrocalidad registrations require the importer to be an operator in its GUIA system and in ECUAPASS, like food importers. Agrochemicals registered in another Andean country do not transfer automatically; each country registers separately under Decision 804.

Law and practice: Ley Orgánica de Sanidad Agropecuaria; Andean Decision 804; Agrocalidad Manual Técnico para el Registro y Control de Fertilizantes.

Inputs are where ACE 59 pays.

Under ACE 59, Ecuador grants Paraguayan goods preferences on about 98% of tariff lines. For inputs whose duty is already 0%, the preference adds nothing; it matters for lines at 5–20%, such as some plastics and processed chemicals. The certificate of origin is what unlocks it: paper, issued by Paraguay’s authorised bodies, valid 180 days.

Fuels are not part of today’s Paraguay–Ecuador trade, and Paraguayan biodiesel or ethanol would need a classification check and ARCH authorisation before any commercial discussion. Freight is the main obstacle for bulk inputs: goods travel through Chilean or Atlantic ports, and the freight is part of the CIF base for FODINFA and VAT.

Law and practice: ALADI fact sheet for ACE 59; see our ACE 59 guide.

Before the first shipment.

Where these rules come from.

Ecuador national tariff, chapter 27 · Ecuador national tariff, chapter 39 (E-Aduana) · Ministry of Energy — Decree 1158 · Primicias — private fuel importers authorised · Teleamazonas — first private gasoline import · El Diario — Decree 126, diesel subsidy · Primicias — fuel band and subsidy, May 2026 · Primicias — Decree 256, regulators split · Agrocalidad — pesticide import permit · Agrocalidad — fertiliser sample permit

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