Authorities from both countries agreed that Costa Rica would accept avocado from Mexico, as long as it has a phytosanitary certificate indicating that the shipment is "symptom-free."
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of Costa Rica, managed to agree in December 2018 with the new Mexican authorities, the procedure to end almost four years of trade conflict, which emerged from the barriers imposed on the entry of avocado to the Costa Rican market.
Hass avocados from Mexico can be imported in containers, provided that they come certified as fruit containers that are free from the sunspot disease or from areas certified as free.
The proposal put forward by the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) to the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures at the WTO, where the conflict between Costa Rica and Mexico is being resolved, establishes that the fruit may be imported in any of three circumstances: the fruit is sent with a certificate that guarantees that it does not have sunspot, with a certificate that comes from areas free of the disease, or where there is compliance with rules agreed bilaterally by the two countries.
Following the same strategy that they used to block the entry of Mexican avocados, in Costa Rica local producers of the fruit now want to prevent imports coming in from Peru.
Producers from the Los Santos area say that the avocados entering the country from Peru are contaminated with the Sunblotch plague, and asked the State Phytosanitary Service to close the Costa Rican market to the Peruvian fruit.
The ban on Mexican avocado has led to an increase in imports from Chile, raising its wholesale price by more than 30%, and will cause shortages when locally produced supplies have been exhausted.
Protectionism for the Costa Rican production of avocados introduced by the Solis administration, arguing phytosanitary measures, achieved results that benefited local producers, such as increasing the price of the product and a decline in import volumes (13,061 tons in 2013 vs . 11,187 in 2015). But what is good for the local producer, is bad for consumers who are forced to pay more for the fruit, as well as seeing their right to choose what to consume violated, and eventually being prevented from simply consuming anything at all because there is no supply.
This year 18 different species of citrus fruit came into the country from Uruguay among them oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit and different hybrids for fresh consumption.
From a statement issued by the State Phytosanitary Service in Costa Rica:
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), conducted a Risk Analysis for Pests (ARP by its initials in Spanish) for opening the market to citrus fruits from Uruguay and will soon finalize the corresponding notifications to allow import of a variety of these fruits into the country.
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."
The Government is analysing whether to declare a shortage of beans and authorize the entry, of zero tariff grain from countries outside of Central America.
A study which quantifies purchase inventories that industrialists have made to local producers, will be used as a basis for the National Production Council (CNP) to determine the amount and type of grain to be imported and recommend to the institutions responsible whether they should declare a shortage. Once the declaration has been made and in accordance with the Act 8763, there would be no tariffs applied on the import of beans from countries outside of Central America with countries which have international treaties that are in force.
Costa Rican importers are demanding solutions after health checks prevented the entry of 20 thousand kilos of Nicaraguan red beans because they contained traces of soil.
The Nicaraguan union is complaining that the Costa Rican State Phytosanitary Service banned the entry of about 20 trucks carrying red beans after finding traces of dirt and sticks in the shipments.
Costa Rica is not allowing the entry of potatoes from the U.S. and customs in Miami have increased controls on ornamental plants coming from Costa Rica.
It has been assumed that the increased controls on ornamental plants occurred after the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) of Costa Rica suspended the issuance of phytosanitary requirement forms for importing U.S. potatoes.
Costa Rica and Canada have recognized the equivalence of regulations governing the accreditation and certification of organic agricultural products in both countries.
This agreement "... allows free passage for Costa Rican exporters, dedicated to this subsector, to export to the U.S. market," noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.
Rice, bananas, banana purée, cocoa, coffee, sugarcane, blackberries, oranges, noni, pineapples, aloe, legumes, vegetables, fruits and spices are some of the organic products that can enter the Canadian market.
The U.S. government has lifted the restriction on imports from Costa Rica of dracaenas with foliage larger than 18 inches.
From a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Trade;
Costa Rica is the only country that can export ornamental plants larger than 18 inches to the United States.
San Jose, June 26, 2012. Today the Federal Register of the United States issued an amendment to its phytosanitary regulations, which allows the importation of ornamental plants of the species of Dracaena marginata larger than 18 inches (46 centimeters) from Costa Rica, giving a competitive advantage to national exporters.
The Costa Rican customs office at Penas Blancas, on the border with Nicaragua, is going through social and commercial chaos pending reforms in infrastructure and procedures.
Delays in the passage of trucks carrying goods are causing major losses to exporters, although business chambers have not conducted any specific studies, said Mario Montero, executive vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry (Cacia).
Costa Rican exporters sending ornamental plants of the species Dracena spp to the U.S.A must be certified.
In addition to the certification issued by the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the United States Department of Agriculture, producers must also enroll in the Healthy Propagative Material Program.
With the equivalence renewal, Costa Rica remains in the EU’s list of third party nations, for an unlimited time, and on Switzerland’s list until 2013, allowing it to export organic products to the European market with a certification issued by national certification bodies under Costa Rican regulations and with the supervision of the SFE, an entity qualified at the national level.
A press release from the State Phytosanitary Service reads:
The new digital system will allow online registration for exporters and packers of products of vegetable origin.
As of June 13, the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) will make the Digital Registry of Exporters System (SIDEX by its Spanish initials) available to users.
The SIDEX may be used by exporters wishing to register as a trader, packer, or both. It also allows renewals, annotations, annuities control and registration payment.