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CACIA
The Costa Rican Chamber of Food Industry maintains strong opposition to the coming into effect of the Free Trade Agreement with China and asked the members of the Legislature to reject the signing of this and other trade agreements, until the country has solved a large number of structural weaknesses which hinder the development of competitiveness and innovation of Costa Rican companies.
Marco Cercone, President of CACI, says it is outrageous to talk about opening the market to the Asian giant when there are so many obstacles to value-added products and innovation.
"We currently have monopoly suppliers of raw materials, guarded by special laws and tariff protection above 45%. Recently, the Liga Agrícola Industrial del Azúcar (LAICA) applied a price increase of more than 22% to a significant group of industries using this commodity, which makes competitiveness impossible, especially for the small and medium industries. Under this type of internal realities, it is impossible to be competitive across the world, since the imported product will be more attractive to consumers," stated Cercone.
Also, the Chamber has requested the removal of a number of import taxes or tariffs on a list of important materials, of which the vast majority are not even produced in the region, not allowing the food industry to innovate and improve their formulas, as restrictive tariffs do not allow improvement in the quality and cost of inventories, an important factor for international competitiveness.
Another problem relates to the monopoly of liquefied gas, which despite being a major source of energy, monopolistic practices create serious supply problems, due to limited storage capacity.
According to Cercone, the Executive Branch has shown willingness to move forward on these issues; however, decisions should be made faster because competition from Chinese products will arrive soon.
More on this topic
February 2011
The Costa Rican Food Industry Chamber called for the withdrawal of a 45% tariff protecting sugar.
The Chamber calls for the removal of all distortions present in the market of food raw materials, of which sugar is one of the most important and widely used. Marco Cercone, president of the Chamber, noted that the monopoly has raised prices up 22%, and said increase makes it impossible for the food industry to compete, taking its highest toll among small and medium companies.
November 2010
Lack of results in eliminating unnecessary requirements and no progress on liberalization of raw materials are casting doubts on businessmen.
In a letter sent to the Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez, the Board of the Costa Rican Food Industry (CACIA) ratified its opposition to further opening the domestic market to imports from Peru, due to the lack of concrete results in the competitiveness agenda.
September 2009
Disagreement arose among industrialists and Comex, over a request for excluding a number of products which are not produced in the country and enjoy zero tariff.
The goods being requested for exclusion are ambulant circuses, circus tents, cable cars, helicopters, vehicles, bridges and cattle feeding bottles.
July 2009
Despite pressure from industry groups, the government of Costa Rica will not advance in the tariff harmonization of products considered "sensible".
The negotiation of the Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and China has raised alarm and protests from the Chamber of Industries and the Chamber of Food Industry, who request a 100% tax relief for central american trade in order to be competitive.
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