In Costa Rica, the Contentious Administrative Court ruled in favor of the companies who accused the government of damaging the local market, after the Solis administration banned the import of Mexican avocado in 2014.
The conflict, which remains unsolved, dates back to several years ago, when in May 2014 Costa Rican authorities decided to ban the import of avocados from Mexico, arguing the existence of the disease known as sun spot.
Arguing that there is no serious injury to the domestic production, the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala decided that it is not appropriate to impose the safeguard requested by a local company on the import of rolled products.
It was found that there is no Serious Injury to the total national production of "flat rolled products of other alloy steels, of a width greater or equal to 600 mm", which are classified in the tariff items 7225.91.00, 7225.92.00 and 7225.99.00 of the Central American Tariff System (SAC), according to official information.
Importers of rolled products in Guatemala demand objectivity in the investigation conducted by the Ministry of Economy to determine whether or not to apply a safeguard to the import of these products.
Derived from the request made by the company Ternium, for the Directorate of Foreign Trade Administration (DACE) to carry out an economic study of the import of rolled products in the country, which has as its main objective, to establish if appropriate a safeguard measure, companies such as Ferromax and Grupo Ferroso, SA, require that the results of the investigation are objective and respond to the real situation of the market.
At the request of Ternium, the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy conducts an import investigation to determine whether or not a safeguard can be applied, a measure opposed by the commercial sector.
In February 2018, the company Ternium submitted to the authorities a request for the Directorate of Foreign Trade Administration (DACE) to carry out an economic study of the import of rolled products into the country, which has as its main objective, to establish whether a safeguard measure is appropriate.
The Guatemalan health authorities recommend not authorizing the import and marketing of meat from the South American country, arguing that there have been cases of foot-and-mouth disease.
At the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (Maga) issued an opinion on the possibility of commercializing in the local market meat and its derivatives, of Argentine origin.
On April 28, a ban on the import and marketing of high-sulphur diesel began in El Salvador.
At the end of November 2018, the Legislative Assembly approved a ban on the import and commercialization of fuels with a high sulfur content, mainly diesel for vehicular use, which must be applied in its entirety based on the resolution of the Council of the Minister of Economic Integration of Central America (COMIECO), where a commitment is signed to import and commercialize only fuels with a low sulfur content.
The Panamanian government's decision to raise the tariff on meat imported from Nicaragua from 3% to 30% to allow local producers to compete has so far shown no clear results.
In September 2018, the Panamanian government decided to establish barriers to the entry of Nicaraguan beef by raising the import tariff from 3% to 30%. This has not had the expected effects, as the prices paid to local producers have not risen.
In El Salvador, the Legislative Assembly approved a ban on the importation and commercialization of fuels with a high Sulphur content, mainly diesel for vehicular use.
From the Legislative Assembly statement:
According to the Legislative Assembly, the import and commercialization of fuels with a high sulfur content was banned, mainly diesel for vehicular use, which must be fully applied based on the resolution of the Consejo de Ministro de Integración Económica de Centroamérica (COMIECO), where a commitment to import and commercialize only fuels with a low sulfur content was signed.
To calm the spirits of local producers, the Panamanian government has announced the beginning of an audit of the process to import agrifood products, in order to identify companies that are bringing goods in without meeting any of the requirements.
A few days after producers in the country held demonstrations against the allegedly excessive entry of products such as dairy and meat, the government decided to form, together with representatives from the agricultural sector, a discussion table to solve some of the problems.However, this negotiation was abandoned by representatives of the unions.
The Directorate General of Taxation has suspended the decree that prevented agencies and distributors from importing latest model vehicles, corresponding to 2018.
The restriction on imports of 2018 models came into effect in October last year, when the Ministry of Finance issued Decree No. 39941-H.
In order to combat the effect of the borer on plantations producers have requested the government to lift the ban on the import of this chemical product.
Arguing that the impact of the coffee berry borer in coffee plantations has "... increased from levels of less than 2% to 10%", the private sector has suggested to the National Commission for Transformation and Development of Coffee Growing the possibility that regulations prohibiting the import of endosulfan be revised so that imports can be made which are small and exclusively for use in coffee producers.
The irreconcilable positions of both countries over phytosanitary measures for the Mexican product form the backdrop to a possible arbitration panel with the world trade body.
Since Costa Rica stopped issuing permits for the entry of Hass avocados from Mexico, for phytosanitary protectionism reasons, (the country argues they are protecting themselves from the disease known as sunspot), neither country has managed to convince the other through technical and political methods to reopen the market.
The Panamanian Food Safety Authority has temporarily banned seafood imports from Vietnam.
From the resolution published in the Official Newspaper La Gaceta:
"...Resolves:
FIRST: Order a temporary suspension of the sale of fishery products from the Republic of Vietnam, until its health authorities definitively clarify, using technical and scientific methods, that they are free of the bacteria "Vibrio cholerae" and therefore that the product may be imported and marketed safely in the Republic of Panama.
After failing to comply with the rules establishing the minimum content of fruit required in beverages, the import of 69 varieties of fruit nectars has been temporarily banned.
From a statement issued by the Panamanian Food Safety Authority:
Panama City / The Panamanian Food Safety Authority (AUPSA) found that for years there have been imports from different countries of some fruit nectars which do not comply with Regulation 31-53 of 1999, which establishes the minimum content of fruit that they must possess.