Ecuador— Tattoo scenes & cities

The National Agency for Sanitary Regulation, Control and Surveillance (ARCSA) issues online the operating permit for tattoo and piercing establishments. According to its official page, updated on 22 July 2025, it costs 112.80 dollars, is valid for one calendar year and requires an RUC number; it is based on the standard ARCSA-DE-2023-001-AKRG. The page defines a tattoo as the introduction, by punctures, of pigments or vegetable dyes.

An Expreso article of 1 February 2024 reports that ARCSA had inspected 160 micropigmentation, tattoo and piercing establishments up to 16 January 2024: 115 compliant, 27 in breach of article 130 of the Organic Health Law, 5 in renewal and 7 closed. The Asociación de Tatuadores del Guayas, then official for four months, said it had received five client complaints about needles not being changed.