Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 23,  2003

ADIOS MEDFORD: Tico soccer great calling it quits. -AFP

Medford Hanging up the Cleats
Costa Rican soccer fans have a final chance to say good-bye to the player who gave the country its most memorable sporting triumph.
(Click for more)

C.R. Continues to
Lobby for EU Trade Privileges
Foreign Trade Minister Alberto Trejos claims Costa Rica is making important advances in its week-old
effort to convince the European
Union (EU) not to impose tariffs on non-traditional
exports, such as fruits, flowers and ornamental plants.
(Click for more)

C.R. a Leader in
Fiber-optic Coverage
The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) announced yesterday that it has installed more than 1,640 kilometers of fiber-optic cable throughout the country, covering 100% of the Central Valley and much of the country's rural areas.
(Click for more)

First Reading Club Fiesta
Next February 6 at 7 p.m., Mexico Institute will be holding the I Anniversary party of the literary internet magazine Clubdelibros.com. The institute also will be celebrating the opening of the I National Reading Book.

The first book read will be "El Hombre Duplicado," written by José Saramago and represented by Santillana Editorial. Contact on the club at (506) 305-6074, www.clubdelibros.com

Medford Hanging up the Cleats
By Brian Harris
bharris@ticotimes.net

Costa Rican soccer fans have a final chance to say good-bye to the player who gave the country its most memorable sporting triumph.

Former National Team and Saprissa star Hernan Medford will take the field one last time Wednesday night at Tibas' Saprissa Stadium for his farewell game.

MEDFORD:Happy Memories -AFP

The game pits Saprissa against Universidad Catolica of Chile, the South American nation's defending champions and one of the continent's most popular team. The game will also mark the retirement of popular Saprissa forward Justin Campos.

Medford, 34, is best known for his game-winning goal for Costa Rica against Sweden in the waning minutes of their 1990 World Cup match in Genoa, Italy. The goal lifted the Ticos to an improbably 2-1 victory, assuring Costa Rica a second round bid and dumping the heavily favored Swedes from the tournament.

Entering as a late substitute, Medford's presence changed the dynamic of the game, allowing Costa Rica, making its World Cup debut, to overcome a 0-1 deficit. The win sparked nationwide celebrations that sent hundreds of thousands in to the streets (TT, June 22, 1990).

At the time, The Tico Times wrote of reaction to the goal: "Radio sports announcers asked forgiveness as they wept for joy. The streets filled within minutes, bringing all San Jose traffic to a standstill."

Local television stations still occasionally replay their telecasts of the game.

Last year, Medford became the first Costa Rican to appear in two World Cups when he formed part of the team that won once, drew once and lost once in the 2002 South Korea/Japan World Cup.

After the 1990 World Cup, Medford spent several seasons playing in Europe, including a stint in Italy's prestigious Serie A, before becoming a star in Mexico.

He finished out his playing days with Saprissa, the country's most popular club and the team that gave him his start. Currently, he is in charge of the club's youth leagues.

Catolica is in the midst of its pre-season after winning the country's Clausura championship last month. The team features Chilean star Miguel Ponce.

Next Wednesday's game kicks-off at 7:30 p.m. Tickets costs ˘1,500-2,000. Catolica plays the National Team February 2 in Alajuela in Steve Sampson's debut as Costa Rica's coach.

Don't Miss Friday's TT print edition for a soccer exclusive.

C.R. Continues to
Lobby for EU Trade Privileges
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Foreign Trade Minister Alberto Trejos claims Costa Rica is making important advances in its week-old effort to convince the European Union (EU) not to impose tariffs on non-traditional exports, such as fruits, flowers and ornamental plants.

Trejos met last week with most of the EU's trade ministers and with members of the foreign trade technical commission, he said. Costa Rica received support from Germany, Spain and The Netherlands, all of which agreed to help the country maintain its preferential status.

To aid developing nations and help increase exports, the EU applies a policy called "Generalized Preference System" (GSP), which allows exports to enter Europe tariff-free. The products on each exporting country's GSP list are evaluated every two years to see if they still meet the requirements for tax exemptions. If exports reach a certain volume, the product "graduates" from the program and becomes subject to regular tariffs (TT Daily Page, Jan. 15)

Costa Rica is currently on a list of 12 countries -- including Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina -- that the EU considers no longer qualify for trade privileges.

Trejos, however, believes there is a good chance that Costa Rica will maintain its privileges.

In his opinion, there are several inconsistencies in the GSP program, such as qualifying countries based on outdated export figures, relying on inadequate development indicators and ambiguity about when countries should be removed from the list.

"GSP regulations went into effect in 2001, so they shouldn't be based on economic data gathered before that year," Trejos argued. "If the decision was instead based on data from the last three years, during which time exports to the EU have dropped, Costa Rica wouldn't be removed from the list of GSP countries."

He also questioned the validity of the indicators used to measure countries' development.

"The fact that Argentina and Uruguay, two countries in the middle of serious economic crises, are on the 'graduate' list indicates that several key indicators weren't taken into account," he said.

Trejos also noted that, even if the trade privileges are revoked, it's unclear when the new regulations would go into effect. In regular circumstances, a decision taken in 2003 would not be implemented until 2005, he said.

"This would make a big difference," the Trade Minister explained. "If the change is not implemented until 2005, Costa Rica would have another two years of trade privileges and have time to prepare and negotiate our own bilateral trade agreement with Europe, which would eliminate the need for unilateral concessions like this one."

The European Parliament will vote for the third time on extending trade privileges Feb. 27. It was rejected in the first two votes.