The Challenge

Ecuador’s efforts to modernise trade procedures had stalled due to public budget constraints, leaving many key import and export processes paper-based and slow. Nearly 40% of trade-related procedures still required manual handling, often taking several days to complete. This affected the efficiency and reliability of interactions between businesses and government agencies responsible for customs, agricultural and animal health controls, and sanitary regulation. The lack of integrated digital systems limited traceability, delayed approvals, and constrained Ecuador’s ability to compete in international markets.

What We Did

The Alliance partnered with Ecuadorian public institutions and the private sector to improve trade efficiency through process reengineering and digitalisation across three complementary areas:

  • Strengthening the National Single Window (VUE), the digital platform that allows traders to submit documents to multiple border agencies through a single entry point. The project supported the launch of 9 new digital services and 4 upgrades, covering key authorisations such as certificates of origin, phytosanitary transit permits, agricultural free sale certificates, and vehicle import licenses.
  • Modernising the laboratories of AGROCALIDAD, the public agency responsible for animal and plant health controls, by designing and implementing a digital laboratory management system. This replaced manual, paper-based workflows with end-to-end digital processes for sample intake, analysis, payments, traceability, and results delivery.
  • Modernising sanitary procedures at ARCSA, the national agency in charge of food, pharmaceutical, and health product regulation, through the development and partial deployment of an integrated digital management system to consolidate and automate internal and user-facing procedures.

Across all components, the project emphasized close coordination between agencies, active consultation with private sector users, agile IT development, and training of public officials to ensure long-term sustainability.

 

The Impacts

The project delivered concrete efficiency gains and durable institutional improvements:

  • Processing times for several high-volume trade procedures were significantly reduced—by up to 81% in some cases—through the shift from paper-based to fully digital services.
  • The Single Window was strengthened as a coordination tool, improving inter-agency collaboration, transparency, and alignment with Ecuador’s international trade commitments.
  • AGROCALIDAD successfully transitioned its laboratory operations to a digital system, reducing manual administrative tasks by more than 80% and supporting compliance with international quality standards.
  • ARCSA consolidated multiple fragmented systems into a single digital architecture, establishing the technical foundation for more efficient and traceable sanitary approvals once full rollout is completed.

Overall, five newly digitalised or upgraded services alone generated an estimated 486,950 hours of processing time saved per year, based on actual reductions in approval times and annual transaction volumes reported by public agencies.

 

Early Closure

In January 2025, a Stop Work Order from the U.S. Department of State led to the withdrawal of USAID funding, closing the project earlier than planned. While this curtailed planned activities, the project helped Ecuador advance toward a more efficient, transparent, and resilient trade environment, while laying the groundwork for continued reform beyond the project’s lifetime.