Allowing import, export and transit processes to be carried out efficiently is the recommendation of the region's businessmen to avoid product shortages in the regional market.
For the Federation of Chambers and Industrial Associations of Central America and the Dominican Republic (Fecaica), governments should continue to take the measures considered necessary so that the cases detected so far do not continue to multiply, or at least, the contagion curve can be minimized, taking actions such as activating and expanding emergency response mechanisms and informing the population about the risks and ways to protect themselves.
Millions of dollars in losses to the business sector, fuel shortages and roadblocks are some of the consequences of the strike by public officials in the country.
Since the unions of public institutions started the strike on Monday, September 6, the situation has been getting worse, with no sign of an end any time soon.
In Costa Rica, a bill under analysis in Congress would force industrialists to contribute to the National Rice Corporation with an additional 5% of the value of the rice purchased under import schemes due to shortages.
Although the aim of the two bills that are being discussed in the assembly is to comply with a resolution of from the Sala IV (4th Court) which ordered consumers to be incorporated into the board of directors of Conarroz, it was also used to modify in the law texts other aspects to which industrialists are opposed.
Due to the effects of El Niño, a drop of 38% has been forecast in the 2016-17 harvest and 5,450 tonnes will need to be imported to meet domestic demand.
The 5,450 extra tons more that Costa Rica will import this year as recommended by the National Production Council (CNP) will be added tothe 9,432 tons that have already been approvedby a decree for the period July 2016 to June 30, 2017.
The decree declaring a shortage authorizes the purchase of paddy rice for the period January to June 2017.
The decree authorizing an import quota for paddy rice due to shortages in the domestic market, was published on Wednesday in the Official Newspaper, La Gaceta.
Estimatations of national consumption for the period 2016-2017 are of 340,000 tonnes of paddy rice, 53% of which is covered by domestic production, equivalent to 180,000 mt; 21.5% by imported rice, under the DR-CAFTA, equivalent to 73,000 tonnes and 7.0% from the Southern Cone, equivalent to 24,000 mt, leaving a shortfall of 63,000 mt, which will be covered with the decree of a shortage.
For the next two years the Municipality of Paraiso, Cartago, Costa Rica, will not issue permits for the construction of housing estates due to the scarcity of water resources.
The decision taken by the municipality to suspend the issuance of new building permits for the next two years is a response to a problem which has nobody has been able to solve for more than two years.Nacion.com explains that in 2014"... a judgment by the Constitutional Court had given a deadline of one year for this council to solve the water shortage, but it's been more than two years and they have not yet resolved the crisis."
In the next few days the government plans to publish a decree declaring a shortage and authorizing the import of duty-free grain.
Due to a decline in local production, there will not be enough stocks to meet demand from January 2017, therefore the import of about 70,000 tons, free from the 33.10%tariff, has been authorized.
The chairman of the Board of the National Rice Corporation (Conarroz), Eliécer Araya, told Nacion.com that "... The need to import is now stronger because of a smaller domestic crop. About three years ago the proportion of consumption of national productionwas 60% and this has now gone down to 50%. "
The country needs to buy 10,000 metric tons of the grain in order to meet domestic demand from July this year to June 30, 2017.
The National Production Council has recommended that the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Trade prepare a decree declaring a bean shortage in the country and authorize its importation.
Endemic problems with the water supply are being compounded by the effect of El Niño, and short-term measures are being tried while the root of the problem is left unaddressed.
EDITORIAL
The editorial in Nacion.com is clear: "... The problem is a shortage of water. It's time to talk about a crisis, without any exaggeration." If meteorologists are not wrong in predicting the lack of rain, four major areas in the Greater Metropolitan area (GAM) "...
The decree which states that the domestic grain is insufficient to supply the local market, enables industries to import with zero tariffs in quotas which are proportional to local purchases.
Following complaints by agribusinesses about the delay in the declaration of a shortage, the government has finally signed the decree that authorizes the purchase of grain from abroad, tax-free.
In the region climatic effects and problems of smuggling have caused scarcity and a rise in cattle prices, the same as is occurring on the international market.
Added to the shortage of cattle is a decline in sales, both regionally and internationally, where "...Stock market contracts for cattle on July 13 performed positively, rising to the maximum limit allowed by the exchange of $3 and almost $4 ", reports Panamaamerica.com.pa.
A technical analysis of the present and future of the avocado market in Costa Rica, states that reaching self-sufficiency, in the Hass variety, would take 20-30 years.
The current situation in the avocado market has encouraged discussion of import restrictions, protectionism and self sufficiency.
Luis Loria, an agronomist at the Experimental Station of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), noted in an article on Crhoy, "...
The drought that affected in 2014 has worsened this year, threatening shortages of basic foodstuffs.
An article on Nacion.com reports that the director of Agricultural Extension of the Ministry of Agriculture of Costa Rica, Felipe Arguedas said "... We are very concerned because two years of drought are joined together; we believe that 2015 will be worse than 1997, which was the driest year recorded so far."
Warnings are being given of shortages in the market, after the Phytosanitary Service banned the import of the fruit from nine markets.
According to the director of the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the decision to ban imports of avocados from Australia, Spain, Ghana, Guatemala, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Florida, in the US, was taken to prevent the entry of the virus known as Sun Blotch, present in these markets. The Chamber of Importers of Perishables Products ensures that there will be a shortage because "... only 20% of total consumption (14,000 tonnes) are harvested in Costa Rica."
Costa Rican industry is paying 33% more for potato tubers because of a scarcity in the market, resulting in a call for a reduction of import tariffs.
In the country the high price of potatoes for industrial use compared to prices in other markets is already old news.
Now the Costa Rican Chamber of Food Industry (Cacia) is asking for the tariff, which currently stands at 46%, to be lowered, in order to import at a reasonable cost and in this way deal with local shortages.