Ecuador officializes Amendment 4 to the residential valve regulations as mandatory

The Ministry of Economic and Productive Development approved and officialized as mandatory Amendment 4 to the Ecuadorian Technical Regulation RTE INEN 142 “Taps or valves for domestic use.” The decision is contained in Resolution No. MDEP-SC-2026-0007-R, signed in Quito on September 11, 2026, by the Undersecretary of Quality, Eduardo Xavier Calderón Morales, and published in the Official Registry No. 378 on Monday, September 28, 2026, on page 10.

Four amendments in two years

The original regulation was officialized through Resolution No. 14 404 of August 15, 2014, promulgated in the Official Registry No. 345 of October 1, 2014, and in effect since December 30 of that year. Since then, it has accumulated three amendments: the first, by Resolution No. MPCEIP-SC-2025-0225-R of July 24, 2025; the second, by Resolution No. MPCEI-SC-2025-0279-R of October 17, 2025; and the third, by Resolution No. MPCEI-SC-2026-0031-R of March 10, 2026.

The technical proposal was formulated by the Ecuadorian Standardization Service (INEN), which submitted it to the Undersecretariat of Quality via Official Letter No. INEN-INEN-2026-0532-OF of September 4, 2026. That letter was rendered null and void and was replaced by Official Letter No. INEN-INEN-2026-0540-OF of September 9, 2026, in which the Executive Director (E) of INEN recommended proceeding with the process.

Certificate of conformity before marketing

Annex I of the resolution entirely replaces numeral 10, Conformity Assessment Procedure (PEC). Before marketing national or imported products subject to the regulation, compliance must be demonstrated with a product conformity certificate issued by:

• a certification body accredited or recognized by the Ecuadorian Accreditation Service (SAE);
• a body designated in the country by the Ministry of Economic and Productive Development;
• a body covered by current mutual recognition agreements.

Sampling may follow the criteria of the applied technical standard, the ISO 2859-1 standard plan with special inspection level S-1, normal single inspection and AQL=4%, or the procedures of the certifying body itself.

Certification schemes and supplier declaration

Manufacturers, importers, and marketers must present the certificate according to the schemes of the ISO/IEC 17067 standard: types 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, and 5, with different levels of surveillance over the production process and over the product taken at the plant or in the market. As an alternative, the supplier’s declaration of conformity according to the ISO/IEC 17050-1 standard is permitted, signed by the issuing responsible party, who assumes the legal consequences if the information is not truthful.

The declaration must be supported by test reports from laboratories accredited or recognized by the SAE, designated by the MDEP, or third-party laboratories with technical competence according to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard; the reports must not be more than 36 months old from the date of issuance. The conformity mark certificate is also accepted. Certificates and reports may be in Spanish or English, and products with the INEN Quality Seal are exempt from the conformity certificate for their commercialization.

Repeal and Validity

The sole repealing provision completely nullifies Resolution No. MPCEIP-SC-2025-0225-R, which contained Amendment 1, and Resolution No. MPCEI-SC-2026-0031-R, which contained Amendment 3. Additionally, Annex I removes item one of Amendment 2, contained in Resolution No. MPCEI-SC-2025-0279-R.

The resolution is effective from its signing, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry, and INEN must disseminate the amendment on its institutional portal, www.normalizacion.gob.ec.

The change requires manufacturers, importers, and marketers of residential taps or valves to certify the conformity of their products before placing them on the market, with expressly defined surveillance schemes and laboratory tests. The standard also organizes the current framework by repealing two previous amendments, so that providers and consumers have a single applicable evaluation procedure.

Source: Official Registry No. 378, Monday, September 28, 2026, Executive Branch – Resolutions, p. 10 (official reference: Resolution No. MDEP-SC-2026-0007-R).