Shipping household goods to Ecuador

I'm sorry to hear you are crossing these difficulties. Somehow, I believe you got some wrong information.
I must add, you are not the only one complaining dealing with Ecuador Customs specially in The Guayaquil Port.
I for one, had no issues at all, however, my items were sent to the Port of Esmeraldas (over 2 yrs. ago) and it took less than 48 hrs. to have it released thanks to the help of ASESORALMIL (main office in Quito), they did all the paperwork.
Find attached their location.  The only drawback is their lack of English.

ASESORAMIL
Av. De los Shyris N35-71 y Suecia
Edificio Argentum Oficina 306
Tercer piso
Telef. 3333489

Carlos Játiva
093 98310 3364

Hopefully, they will help you to resolve your present issue.

MM

I understand that the problem is getting worse instead of better, thanks to a new decree that took effect on June 1.  I am truly sorry that you are going through all this, and recommend that you contact the shipper that got my personal belongings released from the Guayaquil port on May 18 and successfully delivered to me. 


I highly recommend that you contact Sandra Baquero
Sanestar International Shipping Services
“We are a Family Moving Families”
www.sanestarinternational.com
Phone 099.969.0583 | Whatsapp: 593.999.690583
<info@sanestarinternational.com> /<sandy.baquero@gmail.com>

In addition to fine service her English is excellent and she is a superb problem solver. 

I can't guarantee that she can fix this, but it's worth a try.  Good luck.

Sorry about your trouble, this happen to many expats hiring international moving companies in his country of origin, international moving companies that doesn't have a clue about special Ecuadorian Customs regulations.

The main and most important document is the detailed packing list. If your packing list is not done using the Ecuadorian Customs template you get into trouble and then you have to open all your boxes and items and make the right packing list at the port. This takes a lot of time, effort and money.

Once your packing list is complete, then you, or your customs agent, ask for another inspection to verify the container contents are properly listed.

You have an additional problem now, and you are not the only one. The new law about household goods import was on effect on June 1st. This law ONLY applies to returning Ecuadorians,  The government "forgot" about other people's imports so now, all the household imports from foreigners are stuck at the port until Customs "patch" the new law.

I was at Guayaquil port yesterday trying to get a clear answer about this but they don't know when the new law it will be ready, maybe in a couple of weeks.

So, meanwhile you have to seat and wait but we're filling by our lawyer a complain about this problem as the containers arrived BEFORE June 1st and the new law shouldn't apply.

I will use your post to post further information about this issue.

Vicente

Just an update for everybody.

Ecuadorian Customs release a new rule for expats household imports to Ecuador that said the old regulation from 2013 is back and active, so based on this one, expats can bring his household imports duty free.


If you need more information about importing household to Ecuador you can contact me.


Vicente

HI,

My husband and I will be shipping our house hold items in less than a year.  We  understand that it is best to use a company out of Ecuador for moving.

What do you think is the best company?  What is the best port to ship to?  Does the company handle the packing and shipping from the USA and the list of all items on Ecuadorian forms? Is there a maximum value allowed to bring in? I didn't think that there was but now after reading posts, I'm not sure.

We plan on brining our tools, kitchen items (all), and our bed. Should we bring a washer, dryer and vacume too?  We have some furniture in our home there and planned to buy house furniture in EC.

Any information is helpful.  We want to plan ahead so we know the process and costs.

Thanks,
Robin and Joel

Hello Robin and Joel,

Is better to get a moving company in Ecuador as they know the local regulations and procedures.
International moving companies, unless they have a solid and professional agent in Ecuador, don't have all the information about requirements and "tips" to ship household goods to Ecuador.

I you need further information you can contact me at goecuador@hotmail.com

You can ship tools too, as far as the tools are like for home use and don't have many of the same item. They can be used or new, the same applies for appliances.

There is many details and information to be share just for this posts so I think is better by email, mostly related to the way the packing list is done, every container is inspected at the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador main port, so is very important that the information is 100% accurate.

Vinny

Thanks, Vinny.
I will email you later with some quetions!  Then you will have our email address.  My husband I appreciate all information that makese the transition easier.
Robin

Shipping is indeed a nightmare.  You are better off buying new here in Ecuador.  There seems to be a high level of corruption. 

I hired an Ecuadorian shipper recommended on this site which turned out to be a big mistake.  My things were mishandled and late to all destinations in the US.  Fortunately one of the storage services I had to hire in addition to the service i already paid for was truly an angel and helped get everything crated appropriately and on a ship here to Ecuador.  This was a service that was supposed to be handled by the shipper I hired here.  But I really did not have much of choice.  My home was here in Quito, and my stuff was in limbo in the US.

I knew of the six month residency requirement within arrival of your items and in fact had to keep a deposit here in an Ecuadorian bank in the event of non-compliance.  The bank was a bank, and with a specific banker mandated by the shipper.  I received my residential VISA two weeks after moving here so that was not an issue.  The shipper knew I received my VISA and claimed to work closely with the attorney I used to obtain my VISA, so I thought I was all set.  What he did not tell me was that I was required to take that VISA to a Ministry here in Ecuador (which actually I doubt and I think he was banking on the idea that I would believe it would be handled by him), and because I did not, my bank account was pretty much cleaned out by the government (shipper?) costing me more than the shipping and the value of the shipment combined.   He notified me of the Ministry requirement two weeks after the deadline.  Two weeks before might have been nice.  The total cost was nearly $12,000 for $4000 value of items shipped.

I cannot prove it but it pretty much stinks like corruption. I am not mentioning the shippers name because he threatened me and told me I would be in "big trouble" if I did.  Just a word of caution. 

Oh and it arrived to my home almost two months after the scheduled delivery date.  But I did get my things pretty much in tact.

I am happy to see his name is no longer mentioned on this site by anyone.  So maybe people are on to him.

Who is that person that you are referring to? Would you please PMme his name?

Hi Vinny! I just want to make sure I understand. My husband and I are moving to Ecuador, starting with the 24 month Visitors Visa. The tax-free household item rule, that is just for people who are residents or will be in six months? Is this correct?
We are working through was to bring initially.
Thank you!

Historically, a visa-holder was given a six-month window during which time s/he received the tax-free right to ship into Ecuador any permitted goods.  Used cars are not permitted.  A dozen widescreen televisions (considered resale items): also NG.

Check with SENAE (customs) or your attorney that the newish-style visitor visa you applied for gives you this right .. and ask when (in relation to the date on the visa), the shipment window opens.

The multiple laptops and screens you earlier wanted to bring in probably could get through if the window is available to you, although the dogs of SENAE might take a bite.   This part of the shipment would be a gray area.

Only ten percent of arriving new Expats can successfully maneuver such shipments on their own without encountering baffling or emotionally-punishing or unexpected developments.  Consider using an Ecuadorian immigration attorney to supervise from start-to-finish.

cccmedia

Thank you. Yes, looks like there are a lot of problems at the ports right now with rules changing, etc.
I just read yesterday that some of the lawyers are unable to keep up!
A lot of "tax" stranded containers.
We will be selling most everything, making two trips and that should take care of what we have.
Appreciate your reply!

@vinny66

I used a company from Cuenca. Our representative from this company was supposed to be at our inspection.Our belongings were trashed. The only items that were not damaged were the boxes not opened during the inspection. Knives were run through table tops, leather sofas, clothes dumped on the floor and walked on.  A total lack of respect for our property. Nothing was stolen and our container was not delayed in Guayaquil. So I guess we were lucky despite the many thousands of dollars of damage.

We tried to handle the situation legally and it was one company pointing fingers at the other. Our representative wouldn't give us the name of our custom's inspector and wouldn't assist us in getting video from the camera's used during the inspection. We did find out that a company, N***, is now being used to unload containers, open containers, and reload containers. The president of N***c is ***. I sincerely hope that he is one day held accountable for the mistreatment of people's property.

@beastonlizz

How horrible, especially when you paid someone to look over your things what you've described is intentional damage. So sorry this happened and I hope you get to the bottom of it and I hope no one will use this company and when it's time for me to ship my things I'll come back to this forum and hopefully get in touch with you so I can find out who not to use! Carol