Despite the recent announcement by a Costa Rican company about the future of the operation of the Cargo ferry between El Salvador and Costa Rica, as planned, the service is still not operating and may never do so.
The option of maritime cargo transport emerged again with the objective of minimizing part of the impact that the Nicaraguan crisis has had on intraregional trade. That is why in July the governments of Costa Rica and El Salvador announced that they were already able to begin ferrying operations. See "Cargo Ferry Between La Union and Caldera Back on the Table"
The Costa Rican company Desacarga will be the authorized company to provide, from September, a maritime cargo service between the Salvadoran port of La Unión and Caldera, in Costa Rica.
Monica Segnini, CEO of Desacarga, told Elmundo.sv that "... the company is 'finalizing the final details to start operating the ferry in September', which, she explained, will offer a cargo and passenger transportation service both on the Pacific coast, and on land borders."
The platform to digitize and centralize export formalities will not be completely ready before the end of the year.
Since its launch in February 2014, only half of the Foreign Trade Single Counter platform has been running and it only allows processess to be carried out digitally in 5 out of the 44 technical documents for export products.
The documents which can be processed for now correspond to "....
Foreign sales have been negatively affected by a loss of competitiveness with other exporting countries.
In 2013 flower exports fell by 5.4% compared to 2012, due to a loss of competitiveness against other exporters and climatic effects in some growing areas.
"The export of ornamental plants has been losing a lot of space, mainly because some countries are more competitive than us in this respect, in addition to problems such as a fluctuating exchange rate and the depression experienced by major export markets," said the President of the Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (Cadexco), Monica Segnini.
The difficulties and obstacles highlighted by exporters in intraregional trade reveal the serious shortcomings of the much vaunted concept of Central American Integration.
Chambers representing exporters in Central American countries believe that instead of moving towards the integration of the region, the slow progress of the customs union and the high costs of transport is retracting from it.
Increased production costs and increased international competition have forced 71% of producers to turn to other crops.
The reasons for this, explained Monica Segnini, president of the Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (Cadexco ) are first "the exchange rate and the appreciation of the colon over the last three years, added to which is the increase in production costs".
While the outgoing administration rushes through entry to the Pacific Alliance, one of the two possible next presidents is opposed to new treaties.
In a meeting with the Chamber of Exporters, Luis Guillermo Solís, presidential candidate of the Citizen Action Party, said that if he wins the Presidency of the Republic in April, he will slow the signing and negotiation of new FTAs.
Exports are preparing to close the year with a decrease of 7% compared to 2012.
This is according to the estimates of the Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (Cadexco). The decline in international prices for products such as coffee is one of the reasons for the decline in exports. Agricultural exports could go from $2.510 billion in 2012 to $2.341 billion in 2013.
In contrast to what should be a regional customs union, every Central American border post charges vastly different rates and taxes.
"We believe that we could even stage regional custom blockades," said the Nicaraguan Marvin Altamirano, president of the American Federation of Chambers of Transportation (Fecatrans).
Central Freight carriers will meet next August to define the measures to be taken against the different fees imposed by various countries in the region.
Most of Costa Rica's traditional export markets are depressed, so exporters must find new ones.
During the first five months of 2013, exports of goods fell by 3%, unlike other years, such as 2011, when foreign sales reported an increase of 7.6%, and 2012, when the hike was 13.1%.
Sales to the U.S., Costa Rica's top export destination, with 38% of total exports, have been stagnant since October 2012.
The policy of immigration control of the government of Costa Rica does not match the realities imposed by recently signed trade agreements.
Miguel Miranda, owner of Mondaisa, was going to board a plane that would take him to Peru where he has business deals for exporting his products, however, because he lacked the visa that the country requires Costa Ricans to have, he had to postpone his trip, not having been aware of the requirement.
One by one the main leaders of Costa Rican business associations have expressed their appreciation and optimism for the agreements reached with the Chinese government.
The Costa Rican business sector believes that the decisions taken by the Governments of Costa Rica and China will help, directly or indirectly, the Costa Rican economy.
According to Alvaro Saenz, president of the Chamber of Agribusiness, "with China even if you have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), if you dont have health care protocols, products can not enter, so it is very important to have signed these protocols and have ratified them so that access is granted. "
Straddling two administrations, Costa Rica has a huge task ahead of it in terms of institutional adjustments, taxes and regulations, in order to be a candidate for membership in 2015.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that Costa Rica "is being forced to take on a series of standards and policies of the highest level that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) requires its members".
Costa Rican exporters view positively the inclusion of new products to the FTA with Mexico, with the possibility of establishing regional production chains.
Some of the products that will be incorporated into the trade agreement are sugar, iron and steel sheets, gelatin powder, cigarettes, chicken sausages, jellies and fruit pastes. In addition, also agreed was trade in raw materials such as yogurt and powdered sour cream and hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
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