Agrocalidad declares the presence of Fusarium R4T and activates quarantine for bananas

Agrocalidad determined and formalized the phytosanitary status of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Race 4 Tropical (Foc R4T) in mainland Ecuador as “Present: not widely distributed and under official control.” The measure is contained in Resolution No. AGR-AGROCALIDAD/DE-2026-0085-R, signed on September 18, 2026, and published in Official Registry No. 381 on Thursday, October 1, 2026. With this decision, Ecuador ceases to be a country free of the pest that threatens bananas and moves to a status of presence under official control.

The resolution is based on the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 8 (ISPM 8) and the technical report on the Feasibility Analysis of the change in phytosanitary status, dated September 17, 2026. The document indicates that, once the presence of the pathogen in the mainland territory was officially confirmed, the country ceased to meet the criteria to maintain the category of “pest-free area,” which is applicable only when there is official evidence of absence supported by a phytosanitary surveillance system.

The Sole Reformatory Provision excludes numeral 383 of the annex of Resolution No. 0202, dated August 11, 2022, whereby Foc R4T is removed from the “List of quarantine pests not present in Ecuador.” The framework for action is the Organic Law of Agricultural Health and the National Contingency Plan for the Prevention, Detection, and Control of Foc R4T, approved by Ministerial Agreement No. 142, dated December 9, 2020. The resolution bears the signature of the executive director Eduardo Andrés Cantos Cortez, appointed to the position by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Juan Carlos Vega Malo, as of July 25, 2026.

Quarantine and delimitation of zones

• Declaration under phytosanitary quarantine of the infected sites and the areas comprised within their respective buffer zones.
• Approval of Annex No. 1, titled “Geographic Delimitation of the Infected Site, Buffer Zone, and Observation Zone for Foc R4T.”
• Mandatory and differentiated application of biosecurity, surveillance, quarantine, containment, control, and, when technically appropriate, eradication measures.
• Prohibition of extracting and moving musaceous propagation plant material—suckers, corms, and seedlings—soil, substrates, machinery, equipment, and tools from the quarantine areas.
• Exceptional mobilization only with prior authorization from the Agency and compliance with requirements, treatments, and disinfection procedures.

Observation zone: production and export with registration

Musaceae production sites located within the observation zone may maintain their production, harvest, mobilization, and fruit export activities, provided they are duly registered with the Agency and comply with biosecurity, traceability, surveillance, and official control measures. The resolution clarifies that, outside of the infected sites and delimited areas, no detections of the pathogen have been officially confirmed, according to the surveillance, prospecting, sampling, and diagnostic activities carried out by Agrocalidad.

Permanent surveillance and international notification

The General Coordination of Plant Health shall execute, follow, and supervise official control measures, coordinate actions with public sector entities, decentralized autonomous governments, producers, and exporters, and keep the geographical delimitation of infected sites updated. It will also notify the change in phytosanitary status to the competent national and international organizations, in accordance with applicable international instruments. The regulation comes into effect upon its signing, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry.

The decision directly affects producers and exporters of bananas and other musaceous plants, who are subject to quarantines, mobilization restrictions, and official controls in the delimited areas. Agrocalidad maintains that the update seeks to reduce the risk of impact on the musaceae trade, technically support the country’s phytosanitary status before its trading partners, and preserve access to international markets.

Source: Official Registry, No. 381, Thursday, October 1, 2026, Resolutions section, p. 18 (official reference: AGR-AGROCALIDAD/DE-2026-0085-R).