The amending law to Ecuador's Organic Code of Production, Trade and Investment (COPCI) was published in the Fifth Supplement of Official Register No. 336 on July 29, 2026, and has been in force since that date. It aims to speed up the disposal of abandoned or seized goods, lower the State's storage costs and relieve congestion at ports and warehouses.
During the legislative debate, it was noted that more than 12,000 containers a year fall into abandonment, with an estimated value of about USD 450 million.
What changes
- Time to fix the problem: importers have 25 business days to correct the causes of tacit abandonment before the goods are declared abandoned.
- Goods held for over a year: SENAE must inventory and appraise them and publish a notice so that anyone with rights can prove them.
- Notice and claim: the notice is published three times on different days; from then on, the interested party has 15 days to submit documents.
- What happens to the goods: free transfer to public institutions takes priority, even if an auction has already started. Goods whose import is prohibited go only to public entities that need them, or are destroyed.
- Special cases: travelers' effects not collected within 5 days, and tourist vehicles held for a month without a regularization process.
How to protect your cargo
- Have complete documents before arrival: invoice, transport document, permits and certificates.
- Answer every SENAE notice on time, without waiting for the last day.
- Resolve any inspection, valuation or classification observation promptly.
- Work with a broker who follows up on each operation daily and warns you before a deadline expires.
At MACOBSA, every operation has an owner and daily follow-up in our CRM. If a shipment is close to a deadline, you know in time.