Instead of liberalizing the price of grain from 2015, the government is considering implementing a gradual deregulation scheme.
In order for the local price of rice to approach the international price, the Costa Rican authorities will substitute, in the first weeks of next year, the decree liberalizing the price of rice and look for "... Another decree which contains a process that allows the price of rice to reach similar (international) levels . "
The Solis administration is relaunching a bill which aims to set the maximum allowable interest rate for any type of loan.
Although the so called usury rate is part of Costa Rican law, it is not specified how much the rate should be. Because of this, "... the Costa Rican financial market offers various loans with very high rates that could be punishable, but the gap in the law does not allow the courts to determine what is a high or low rate."
The Economy Ministry has rejected a request by producers to temporarily raise the tax on imported grain, but has not ruled out doing so from December 2014.
The Producers Guild has revived efforts to create a technical regulation which requires roasters to indicate the origin of coffee on packaging.
Increased imports of coffee from countries such as Nicaragua, Guatemala and Peru have led the production sector to revive a proposal made in 2011 that would require companies to indicate whether packaged coffee is national or purchased from abroad.
Rice producers fear not being able to sell their rice harvest because of the entry of rice from countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay at much lower prices than local ones.
"At great risk are 60,000 hectares of rice, for which there is no known market for this production because Costa Rica is being invaded by milled rice imports from southern countries (Argentina and Uruguay)," said the new President of the National Assembly of Rice Producers, Domingo González. "
Small hotels can not compete with the low prices used by big international chains in the sector to attract customers.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in destinations in Manuel Antonio, Quepos and Aguirre are demanding urgent action by the government to halt what they call unfair competition, which coupled with the low influx of tourists in the area and the absence of a strategy for tourist attraction, is leading small hotel companies to bankruptcy.
Cement in Costa Rica is twice as expensive as the U.S. and general building materials cost 1.5 times more than in the U.S. and Europe.
In Costa Rica the cost of cement and its derivatives represent 30% of total construction cost of a luxury building and up to 50% on buildings that are semi luxury or of popular interest.
"The international price of cement, in mid-2007, reached a maximum of $90 per metric ton.
Mortgage inventories, cash flow, contracts, intellectual property, trademarks, among others, can be used as an alternative option to traditional collateral on real estate.
Additionally, the law passed by the Legislature on April 30, also allows for current assets or rights given in contracts, equipment, accounts receivable, chattels, crops, tourist bookings and even future rights to the value of timber to be taken into account.
As of January 31st 2014 the number of cards in circulation amounted to 1,729,945.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Economy and Trade:
In the past 18 months, Costa Ricans in total increased the debt balance of their credit cards by on average 1% per month, the equivalent of more than $7.2 million every 30 days, as confirmed by the latest survey by the Directorate of Economic and Market Research at the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).
A law would allow small and medium enterprises grouped in consortia to access markets that fail to capture individually.
Comisión de Hacendarios de la Asamblea has ruled on a bill that would allow small businesses to form consortiums for exports, business cooperation and origin.
Through its petroleum division Uno Costa Rica Terra Group bought seven service stations from the Costa Rican Grupo Colono.
Uno Costa Rica, the petroleum division of the Honduran Terra Group, has purchased seven services stations operated by the Costa Rican group Colono in Limon and Alajuela. The amount of the transaction has not been revealed.
Technical regulations on the "General Principles of Good Food Manufacturing Practices" have been updated.
In December 2013, the Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica (Inteco) updated and approved a tool which establishes the controls and requirements for all processes in the food manufacturing chain.
From a press release issued by the Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica (Inteco):
O4Bi is a system that allows to control and manage what a company needs: the complete process of development of works, accounts receivable, treasury, banks, sales and accounting.
O4Bi is a very robust system that allows to control and...
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