With the rejection of the appeal presented by one of the participating companies, the General Comptroller of the Republic gave the green light to the construction of an agricultural plant in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica.
In March, the contract for the construction of this industrial complex had been awarded to the company Vidalco Constructora, but the process was temporarily interrupted with the filing of an appeal by one of the participating companies.
The government is preparing a decree of a shortage in order to authorize the duty free import of 25,000 tons of beans, for the period between June 2018 and May of next year.
As happens every year, the National Production Commission (CNP) must authorize the duty free import of the grain, to cover the annual demand of 48,000 metric tons that can not be met with local production.
Due to the effects of El Niño, a drop of 38% has been forecast in the 2016-17 harvest and 5,450 tonnes will need to be imported to meet domestic demand.
The 5,450 extra tons more that Costa Rica will import this year as recommended by the National Production Council (CNP) will be added tothe 9,432 tons that have already been approvedby a decree for the period July 2016 to June 30, 2017.
The country needs to buy 10,000 metric tons of the grain in order to meet domestic demand from July this year to June 30, 2017.
The National Production Council has recommended that the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Trade prepare a decree declaring a bean shortage in the country and authorize its importation.
The increase in production added to the imports coming from Chile does not explain the sharp drop in the price of pork in the Costa Rican market.
The June 2015 report by the National Production Council on the pork market contains data and information relevant to understand the protests by farmers against imports from Chile and statements about representatives from various economic sectors and companies operating in this market.
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.
Businessmen are complaining about a shortage of the grain in the market due to stricter phytosanitary measures designed to prevent the entry of beans with soil residues on them.
The National Chamber of Industrial Crops (CANINGRA) and the National Association of Bean Industrialists (ANIFRI) have separately warned that there could be supply shortages in the short term if the measure preventing the entry of products with soil residues coming into the country remains. In February and May the entry about 2,000 tons of red beans from Nicaragua was prevented for having breached this rule.
The Japanese market for pork, organ meats, sausages and pork derivatives coming from Costa Rica has reopened.
The next step in the process is identifying companies interested in exporting pork products to the Asian nation.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock:
"After a process that began in 2012 under the framework of the objectives of the National Swine Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan recently announced to the authorities of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) at the Ministry of Agriculture, that this country recognizes the status of Costa Rica as a country free of swine fever and has reopened its market not only pork, but also offal and other derivatives as well as pork sausages."
A bill has been presented that would force to buy all domestic production as a precondition to any imports.
The plan is to create the National Regulatory Commission on Production and Marketing of White Maize in order to strengthen bean and white maize producers in Costa Rica.
The bill was introduced in the Costa Rican Congress by Rep. Walter Céspedes.
In the Costa Rican National Development Corporation, there are 130 expendable personnel whose salaries are greater than $2,300 a month.
An article in Nacion.com quotes Wlliam Barrantes, the chief executive of the National Production Council (CNP), who manages the National Liquor Factory (Fanal), and runs the Institutional Supply Program (IAP), which sells food to ministries such as Justice (prisons), Security (police) and the Social Security Department (hospitals).
The Government of Costa Rica has announced the construction of a new hospital in the province of Puntarenas, with a loan of $100 million from CABEI.
The new structure will be located on a plot of 15 acres owned by the National Production Council, which was given as payment for debts that the NPC had with the IRS. The Ministry of Finance, in turn, gave it to the Social Security Department.
Encouraged by distorted prices due to governmental actions, the amount of planted areas sown previously reached 71,000 hectares, now the government, producers and manufacturers have agreed to reduced it to 53,000.
The decision was adopted by a consensus within the National Rice Corporation (CONARROZ), a step that shows clearly that the previously announced target of increasing production has been abandoned.
High international prices of orange concentrate is benefiting local exporters.
Since 2007 prices have been showing an upward trend, partly due to the reduced supply of oranges in the United States, one of the leading producers and exporters worldwide.
In Costa Rica, the size of the area under cultivation has also increased in recent years, which has enabled them to take maximum advantage of the favorable prices.
The National Rice Corporation has plans to purchase a plant for drying and storage of 'Rita' rice.
The purchase of the plant, owned by the National Production Council (CNP in Spanish) is subject to approval by the Controller General of the Republic.
The plant, which has not been in operation for 20 years, was valued at $1.3 million and will need about $200 thousand to make it useable, said Carlos Chavez, president of Conarroz.
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