In Nicaragua, following the arrests of political and business leaders, uncertainty has increased after local authorities arrested Luis Alberto Rivas Anduray, Executive President of Banpro.
In the last weeks Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga Blandon and Juan Sebastian Chamorro have been arrested, these people were presidential pre-candidates and are accused of multiple crimes.
After the Nicaraguan Assembly approved a bill that forces local banks to allow public officials sanctioned by OFAC to have an account, there are fears that the country will be isolated from the international financial system.
A statement issued by the National Assembly on February 3 explains that the deputies approved the Law Initiative of Reform and Addition to the Law for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers and Users, a legislative project which guarantees a better and greater protection of the rights of consumers and users in the access to goods and services as a human right recognized by the Nicaraguan State.
After the National Assembly modified the Law for the Promotion of Electricity Generation with Renewable Sources and its reforms, clean energy generators will be able to negotiate the lowering of current prices and in exchange they will receive five additional years of tax exemption.
The initiative, urgently submitted by President Daniel Ortega, exposes the voluntary negotiation process being carried out with electricity generators from renewable sources for the benefit of the Nicaraguan population and the country's economic sectors, the National Assembly reported.
The National Assembly approved a bill that aims to streamline the procedures for granting concessions for the development of yacht clubs and berths.
The deputies of the National Assembly approved on March 12 a new Law for the Development and Operation of Tourist Marinas that will stimulate the development of the tourism industry and encourage national and foreign investment, both public and private, in the water tourism sector, the government informed in a press release.
The Nicaraguan Assembly approved a bill empowering the Institute of Protection and Health to impose economic sanctions on any agricultural producer who fails to comply with phytosanitary requirements at the time of an inspection.
The business sector considers that the law known as the "Plant Protection Act" has excessive discretion, since the Institute of Protection and Health (IPSA) cannot become judge and party in relation to complaints to the competent authority, because of the probable existence of a crime.
The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
The business sector in Nicaragua believes that the bill under discussion in the Assembly, which empowers the government to fine agricultural producers if they fail to comply with approved phytosanitary standards, has excessive discretion.
A few days ago, a bill called the "Plant Protection Law" was submitted to the National Assembly. This is a legal framework that empowers the Institute of Protection and Health (IPSA) to impose sanctions ranging from $100 to $700 on any producer that does not comply with the requirements at the time the government carries out an inspection.
With regard to the discussion of an initiative which aims to modify the Trademark Law in Nicaragua, the business sector believes that relevant changes are being considered in the area of legal security, as far as the protection of trade names is concerned.
Regarding the subject, the National Assembly reported that on February 27, "... the consultation process for the initiatives to reform the Trademark Law and the Patent Law was successfully concluded, with the participation of economic and academic agents directly linked to the subject, who provided important contributions."
The reform proposal to Nicaragua's Energy Stability Law contemplates the elimination of the tax on the purchase and sale of electricity for users who generate their own energy and decide to market their surpluses.
On November 21, the Ortega administration sent to the National Assembly the initiative, which seeks to exonerate from the marketing tax, generators who sell their surplus electricity to Disnorte-Dissur.
The lack of a competition law in Guatemala could expose the country to sanctions from the European authorities, since it is a requirement demanded in the regulations of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
Since the end of 2016, the Association Agreement (AdA) required Guatemala to have a law on the matter, since in 2019 a Central American competition authority would have to be created.
The National Assembly of Nicaragua approved the bill that establishes that when the price per quintal of grain exceeds $100, producers must contribute one dollar to a commission that will watch over the incentives of the sector.
The changes to the Law on the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming were surrounded by controversy, since the previous law mandated that the National Commission for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming (Conatradec) should be composed of nine representatives of the private sector, all proposed by the same producers or businessmen.
The Nicaraguan government seeks to deprive the business sector of the power to propose its representatives to the National Commission for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming.
President Daniel Ortega presented an initiative to the National Assembly to modify the Law for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming, which among the changes includes that the Members of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) do not have the power to propose their representatives to the National Commission for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming (Conatradec).
Changes in legislation restricting the use of disposable plastic containers and packaging force companies to look for other options, some of which could be up to five times more expensive.
In Costa Rica, the Legislative Assembly ratified the ban on the import, marketing and distribution of expanded polystyrene containers, better known as styrofoam.
With the approval in Second Debate of file 19.833 "Addition of an article 42 bis, a paragraph d) to article 50 and the transitory XIII, XIV and XV to the Law for the Integral Management of Waste, No.
In Nicaragua, a reform to the Hydrocarbon Supply Law was approved, which allows thermal generators to "freely" import fuels derived from hydrocarbons.
In relation to the approved reform of urgent character, Patricia Rodriguez, expert in energy, explained to Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... it is not clear what will be the role of the Nicaraguan Company of Petroleum (Petronic) nor why the refinery of the company Puma Energy will stop producing full oil to generate electric energy."