Annex to the Working Arrangement between the European Union Drugs Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador Joint work programme 2026–2028

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Annex to the Working Arrangement

between the European Union Drugs Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador

Joint work programme 2026–2028

We, the undersigned, in our respective capacities of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Head of Mission of the Republic of Ecuador to the European Union, and of Executive Director of the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA):

• Recalling the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility as the lead institution for international cooperation in Ecuador;
• Recalling the EUDA’s overall tasks to produce factual, objective, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs and drug addiction and their consequences, and to help provide the European Union and its Member States with an overall view of the drug and drug addiction situation when, in their respective areas of competence, they take measures or decide on action;
• Recalling that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility and the EUDA are committed to ensuring that they cooperate effectively in appropriate areas to maximise the efforts of both organisations in strengthening European and international actions against illicit drugs and crime;
• Recalling the Working Arrangement signed in July 2024;

Both sides agree that the following areas will be regarded as priorities for pursuing cooperation for the period 2026–2028:

a) Exchange on methodology of data-collection systems and on data itself (demand and demand reduction, supply and supply reduction, legal aspects and policy models), such as:

• Ecuador shares monitoring methodologies on drug seizures and the EUDA shares monitoring methodologies on drug prices and purity (online meetings);
• Exchange of experience on monitoring incidents of violence related to the drug market, particularly homicides (online meetings);
• Participation of Ecuadorian officer(s) in the EUDA/CEPOL in-person training on strategic analysis of drug markets, if funding is available;
• Exchange of physical-chemical analysis methodologies used for the identification of precursor chemicals used in illicit drug production.

b) Support for the strengthening of established drug information systems

• Ad hoc online participation in EUDA health and supply indicator meetings. The working language of these meetings is English and interpretation in other languages will not be available.

c) Exchange of relevant experiences on monitoring the cocaine market

• Exchange of data and information on cocaine production and the chemical concealment of cocaine (online meeting);
• Exchange between the EUDA and the relevant Ecuadorian authorities on cocaine trafficking at seaports (online meeting);
• Exchange of data related to precursors and chemical substitutes used in the manufacture of cocaine.

d) Provision of technical support for the creation of an integrated information system

• EUDA to share the template for the Drug Information Map (where all national drug-related data sources are catalogued);
• EUDA to support the Ecuadorian National Drug Observatory with the use of a self-assessment questionnaire;
• EUDA to provide ad hoc support for the creation and implementation of a National Drug Observatory, subject to resource availability.

e) Exchange of expertise and data on new psychoactive substances (NPS)

• Participation on an ad hoc basis in selected meetings or trainings dedicated to NPS and the Early Warning System on Drugs (EWS).

f) Exchange of experiences on health and social responses to drug problems

• Cooperation in the design of comprehensive and sustainable alternative development strategies;
• Participation on an ad hoc basis in the basic training of the European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC), if funding is available;
• Participation in the European Drugs Winter School (EDWS), online, and the European Drugs Summer School (EDSS), in Lisbon, if funding is available;
• Attendance at EUDA webinars, as participants and as speakers;
• Ad hoc cooperation on health communications.

g) Establishment of effective communication channels

• The EUDA designates Cecile Martel, Head of the international cooperation sector, as contact person for maintaining continued dialogue with a view to ensuring the efficient and full application of the present Working Arrangement;
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador designates the following contact persons for maintaining continued dialogue with a view to ensuring the efficient and full application of the present Working Arrangement.

For the Ministry of Interior:

• Ernesto Rufo Cabezas Fiallo, Specialist, Sub-secretariat of Administration and Control of Drug Substances and Strengthening of Mental Health;
• Trotsky Gustavo Santamaría Lucero, Chief Specialist, Sub-secretariat of Administration and Control of Drug Substances and Strengthening of Mental Health.

For the Ministry of Public Health:

• Alexandra Jazmín Villacís Jurado, Project Analyst for the Development of the Strategy for the Comprehensive Approach to the Socioeconomic Drug Phenomenon and the Strengthening of Mental Health;
• Cynthia Aracelli Ferreira Salazar, Project Analyst for the Development of the Strategy for the Comprehensive Approach to the Socioeconomic Drug Phenomenon and the Strengthening of Mental Health;
• Darío Alejandro Terán Pazmiño, Project Analyst for the Development of the Strategy for the Comprehensive Approach to the Socioeconomic Drug Phenomenon and the Strengthening of Mental Health.

Both sides further envisage to:

• Explore any additional areas of common interest for cooperation;
• Monitor the progress of the above activities closely and convene, as appropriate, coordination review meetings;
• Update this Annex as relevant.

Date of signing: –, –