The trade agreement excludes oil, some dairy and meat products, waffles, beer, gum, certain plastics, paper, cardboard and the metalworking sectors.
The agreement, which will come into effect when it gains legislative approval in Colombia, provides free instant access to Costa Rica for cocoa beans, refined salt, medicines, raw materials for the plastics industry, paper and textiles and plywood doors.
The retail sector is looking favorably on accession to the bloc, but the agricultural and food industries are opposed to it.
The lack of information about how membership has been negotiated and sensitivities presented by some sectors and products in comparison to their peers in the Pacific Alliance are part of the arguments used by agriculture and industry to oppose, at least under the current conditions, the incorporation of Costa Rica into the Alliance.
The Legislature has approved a Free Trade Agreement with the group made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
"The initiative states that another important aspect of the plan is that the EFTA countries are among the most developed in the world, as they have a high per capita income averaging $47,800 per year."
According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex): "...
Preferential access to Costa Rica for Colombian products and services becomes relevant when we take into account that in the Central American country purchasing power is 20% higher than in Colombia.
According to an article in Dinero.com, in the view of the Ministry of Commerce of Colombia the trade agreement with Costa Rica involves reducing and eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers on Colombian exports to major markets in Central America, along with clear and stable rules for investors in Costa Rica.
Honduras and Nicaragua will be the first countries to export to the European market under the preferential tariff agreed between the two regions.
The agreement will be effective only in these two countries, as the parliaments of the rest of the region have not yet ratified it.
Both nations also will benefit from use of the regional quotas agreed for products such as meat, tuna, rice, sugar, sweet corn, preserved mushrooms, cassava flour, fresh or chilled garlic, among others, which can enter without paying tariffs.