In Costa Rica, legislative initiatives are being prepared to restructure the credit portfolios of small and medium agricultural producers affected by climate phenomena.
One of the initiatives includes the purchase of the credit portfolio to readjust the debts of producers affected by climatic phenomena and who are unable to pay. The credits that would be applied in this case would be those of $35,000 or less.
Although in Costa Rica the procedures for approving new pesticides that enter the market should take a few weeks, there are processes that have not been processed for more than ten years, which prevents increasing and improving the supply of products.
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, accumulates dozens of files that are still pending approval, including some that have been waiting for more than a decade.
The OECD has pointed to an overabundance of institutions: 11 institutes, 6 corporations, and 9 sectoral committees including organizations for children, young people and rural women.
Nacion.com explains that "...The OECD criticized the large number of institutions in the public agricultural sector and said that this complicates sectoral decision-making.An organizational chart requested of the Executive Secretariat for the Agricultural Sector Planning (Sepsa), attached to the MAG, shows that there are 11 institutions, six corporations (such as Corbana) and nine sectoral committees, among them the National Council Club 4-S "
The agricultural union is upholding its position against entering the block and has unlinked itself from the group consisting of other business chambers which is lobbying for accession.
Crhoy.com reports that "... 'The agricultural sector grouped in the National Agricultural Alliance (ANA) sent a letter to President Luis Guillermo Solís in which it expressed opposition to the entry of Costa Rica into the Pacific Alliance. "
The sector that used to be the basis for the country´s economic and social development in the last century is now suffering from a severe crisis of profitability.
The President of the National Chamber of Agriculture and Agribusiness of Costa Rica, Juan Rafael Lizano, summarised the figures that account for the decline in the sector, noting factors such as greater fuel costs, the high cost of labor, and difficulties in access to credit.
Data from the last official survey indicates that the number of jobs in the sector fell from 285,076 in 2010 to 213,155 in 2014.
Data from the last official survey indicates that the number of jobs in the sector fell from 285,076 in 2010 to 213,155 in 2014.
Agricultural sector leaders asked the government to freeze wages in the second half, improve the availability of credit, and change the exchange rate policy to overcome the crisis that has worsened in the last year.
While the government makes further assessments over joining the bloc, the agribusiness sectors is emphasizing the negative consequences of any renegotiation over tariffs.
Representatives from the agricultural sector argue that the country's entry into the Pacific Alliance will mean "... losing some of the conditions achieved in existing free trade agreements." Currently "...