The Ecuadorian Quality System Law establishes that, prior to the commercialization of domestic and imported products, the products must demonstrate whether they comply with the requirements of current technical regulations and quality standards for their labeling, applicable to obtain a certificate of conformity issued by agencies accredited by the Ecuadorian accreditation system.

The Ecuadorian Standards Institute (INEN) sets all labeling requirements. Labeling must be in Spanish and must include: 

• name of the company 
• address 
• phone number 
• tax registration number (RUC) 
• country of origin 
• unit 
• net weight 
• sanitary registration number, if required 

In some instances, specific product labeling in Spanish is required.  All labeling requirements are specified in every INEN regulation with detail. 

For food items, in addition to the nutritional label, the Ministry of Health in Ecuador uses a mandatory ‘traffic light’ system on the front of food packaging to indicate high (red), medium (yellow), or low (green) levels of fats, sugars, and salt.   

To determine current regulations, exporters should also contact their Ecuadorian importers and representatives.  The U.S. Embassy recommends verifying up-to-date labeling requirements with INEN prior to shipping. 

In April 2022, Ecuador’s Internal Revenue System (SRI) ended the SIMAR system (System for Identification, Marking, Authentication, Tracking and Tracing) of cigarettes, spirits, and beer.  Currently, importers are free to hire a provider of their choice to implement the marking and fiscal traceability system required on excise products.  Thus, Ecuador moved from a comprehensive governmental traceability model to a declarative model, in which each taxpayer chooses the supplier for the marking and traceability of its products without the need for any qualification.  This measure raised concerns with the International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA).