In Panama, President Cortizo sanctioned the Law that establishes that from 2024, 100% of the resources retained by the Special Interest Compensation Fund will go to the agricultural sector.
Two months after the end of the rainy season, farmers in Costa Rica lament that the government has yet to execute the works needed to mitigate the effects of the droughts scheduled for next summer.
In the opinion of the producers, among the works that the government should have promoted during the current winter was the construction of water reservoirs and wells, as well as the cultivation of fodder to store animal feed, since there is the threat of a possible new drought.
Guatemalan producers report that their profit margins have been reduced because the threat of the Fusarium R4T pest has forced them to increase their spending on phytosanitary measures and crop biosecurity.
In Panama, a bill is planned to convert the provinces of Los Santos and Herrera into a Special Economic Zone, which will offer tax and labor incentives to companies in the agricultural sector that decide to invest in the area.
Representative Julio Mendoza, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, announced that in the coming weeks he will present a bill to the Assembly to create the Special Economic Zone of Azuero.
In the first three months of 2019, Central American countries recorded $590 million in banana sales abroad, 6% less than reported in the same period of 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
The first container of Panamanian pineapple left on October 1 to Beijing, China, and is expected that in the coming months shipments will be 12.5 containers per week.
The head of Agribusiness of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA), Tomás Solís, said that the company Ananas Trading Inc. Panama will increase fruit exports from 12.5 to 25 containers per week in 2020, explains an official statement.
The National Assembly approved a bill that establishes that by 2024, 100% of the resources retained by the Special Interest Compensation Fund will go to the agricultural sector.
The Special Interest Compensation Fund (Fondo Especial de Compensación de Intereses, FECI) is fed by the 1% tax levied on the granting of all loans exceeding five thousand dollars in both commercial and consumer banks.
Since October 1, Costa Rican producers and suppliers in the agricultural and fishing sector have a special regime for declaring and paying VAT, which provides that coffee producers, sugarcane and beekeepers will make an annual declaration.
The new Special Agricultural Regime (REA) does not change fiscal obligations, but it allows them to be adapted to the particularities of production processes, so as to facilitate compliance, informed the authorities.
Subscriptions: Regional Purchases up to March 2019
In the first three months of 2019, fertilizer purchases by countries in the region totaled $189 million, 7% more than reported imports in the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Authorities from both countries began the process of sanitary validation for the export of five agricultural items of Dominican production to the Asian nation.
The negotiations take place within the framework of the new diplomatic and commercial relations established between the two nations, and on the basis of the sanitary protocol signed by the parties in November 2018, informed the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic.
The government of Costa Rica signed a decree so that the agricultural sector can formally hire migrants who are in the country.
The decree provides legal certainty to agricultural companies, because they will be able to hire regularized labor for agricultural activities, within the framework of social guarantees, explained the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG).
The Guatemalan exporters' guild calls on local companies in the agricultural sector to participate in the PMA Fresh Summit, to be held from October 17 to 19 in Anaheim, California.
Those interested in participating in the PMA Fresh Summit can request more information by calling 2422-3618 or emailing ruth.estrada@agexport.org.gt, informed the Guatemalan Exporters Association.
The Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce opposes the special tax scheme for agricultural activity approved by Congress, arguing that it is unconstitutional and violates the principles of tax equity.
The new fiscal regime for agriculture, approved last September 24 by the deputies of the Congress of the Republic, has been surrounded by controversy, as from the beginning the chambers of industry and commerce expressed their opposition.
The Guatemalan Congress approved a bill that contemplates the creation of a special tax regime for agricultural activity.
Although this bill was involved in controversy days ago, as the chambers of industry and commerce expressed their opposition, Congress decided to approve the bill. See full bill.