(Adds Ecuador statement, details and background)
QUITO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ecuador will start bilateral trade negotiations with the European Union after talks with the Andean nation's bloc collapsed, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Neighboring Colombia and Peru decided to move forward with bilateral free trade negotiations with the EU on Tuesday.
"Facing this reality and looking out for our interests Ecuador expresses its interests in moving forward with its relations with the European nations," the ministry statement said. "The bilateral negotiations proposed by Ecuador to the EU will watch out for the country's interests."
The four-country Andean Community has been riven by tensions among its members on trade issues.
Exports from the Andean bloc to the EU totaled $11 billion in 2007-- much of them in raw materials and farm goods such as bananas-- and more than $8 billion worth of European business went the other way, according to Andean Community or CAN data.
(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Bill Trott)