The Ecuadorian authorities are cracking down on those who break its banana laws with hefty fines.
The farm ministry said that exporter Gropagro had been sanctioned for failing to pay the official price of US$5.50 for 33,501 boxes of bananas, with the company now having to pay US$184,255 for the fruit as well as a fine of US$4.6m.
Separately,exporter Sedordinsa was penalised for failing to pay a grower for 204 boxes of fruit.
The official price per box of US$5.50 was multiplied by 204 and a fine of some US$28,050 imposed, leaving the company 72 hours to pay a total of US$29,172.
