Industrialist point out that the declaration of shortage of grain by the government has failed to solve the problem in the local market, where the price of a kilo has increased by $1.
The National Association of Manufacturers of Beans in Costa Rica (Anifri) argues that the change in the verification of phytosanitary measures by the Ministry of Agriculture is the cause of the grain shortages and price increases in the country.
The Costa Rican customs office at Penas Blancas, on the border with Nicaragua, is going through social and commercial chaos pending reforms in infrastructure and procedures.
Delays in the passage of trucks carrying goods are causing major losses to exporters, although business chambers have not conducted any specific studies, said Mario Montero, executive vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry (Cacia).
Dominican Republic and Central America have agreed to unify the regulations governing organic agriculture.
The policies are based on rules by Codex Alimentarius, created in 1963 by FAO and the WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as practices under the joint FAO / WHO Food Standard Program. The main purpose of the program is to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair trade practices as well as to promote coordination of food standards.
In the context of negotiations on the Central American Customs Union some changes have been agreed that will benefit farmers.
The text of the agreement, which will soon come into force in the countries in the region, certain unnecessary technical requirements have been removed that made the fertilizer register bureaucratic.
"In addition, regulations were incorporated that were needed to prevent soil amendments from being registered as fertilizers. Finally, concepts and parameters were specified to classify low concentration formulas, which do little to improve the region's productivity and are now being sold in various Central American countries," reports La Prensa Libre in its web portal.
Called “yellow dragon”, this plague originally detected in Nicaragua is threatening Costa Rica’s orange plantations.
The State’s Phytosanitary Service (SFE), part of the Agriculture Ministry (MAG), stated that the bacteria known as “yellow dragon” (Huanglongbing (HLB)), has traveled through the Caribbean coast from Miami to Belize, Honduras, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.