The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, June 4, 2004

REGISTERED? Less than half of required Costa Rican companies have registered to comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards mandated under the U.S. Bio-Terrorism Law. As of Dec. 12, 2003, producers of avocado and most other agricultural products must meet the new requirements.
Tico Times/Julio Laínez

June 4

Ballet Show
Presenting the ballet “Prólogos,” 8 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, in the National Auditorium of the Children’s Museum, Ca. 4, Av. 9 in San José. Info: 258-4929, ext. 122.

Olympics of Knowledge
High-school students from 70 schools around country compete in questions of physics, social studies, biology, math, Spanish and chemistry in 10th Wisdom Tournament at the International University of the Americas, Saturday, 8:30-11:30 a.m.

Percussion Concert
Percussion concert, 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 3/5 in San José. Info: 221-3756

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Less Than Half of Country’s Exporters
Registered for U.S. Bio-Terrorism Law

Less than half of Costa Rica’s food-related companies have registered in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements under the U.S. Bio-Terrorism Law, the Ministry of Agriculture announced this week.

Pilar Fernández, of the ministry, said 871 food-related facilities in Costa Rica have complied with the new regulations – more than any other Central American country.

Under the Bio-Terrorism Act of 2002, the FDA required all entities that produce, manufacture, process, pack or store food for human or animal consumption in the United States to register by Dec. 12, 2003 (TT, Dec. 12, 2003)

The goal of the registration was to allow the FDA to track the origin and distribution of all food products. This, according to the FDA, facilitates detection and quick response if there is an actual or potential threat to the food supply.

The ministry estimates more than 1,000 food-related businesses in Costa Rica that export to the United States have not yet registered. According to Fernández, exporters that have not registered may have decided to stop exporting to the United States because of the new, more complicated, requirements. There also may have been an over-calculation of related businesses, she said.

Worldwide, less than 50% of businesses expected to register have done so. As of May 28, 202,024 businesses have registered with the FDA, of which 105,193 are foreign and 96,831 are domestic.

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Association of Free Zones
Supports Free-Trade Pact

The Association of Costa Rican Free-Zone Businesses (AZOFRAS) has announced it considers last week’s signing of the Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by the top foreign trade officials of the United States and Central America an important step toward consolidating the judicial security of foreign firms investing here.

The signing, which took place last week in Washington D.C., is the “second in a series of three steps toward consolidating Costa Rica’s commercial strategy with its main export market (the United States), which represents an additional tool in the search for development,” according to a statement issued by AZOFRAS.

The first step of the process was the negotiation of the treaty, which began in January of last year and concluded in December for Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (TT, Dec. 19) and in January of this year for Costa Rica (TT, Jan. 30). The third step – possibly the most difficult – will be the ratification of the agreement by the legislative bodies of each participating country.

Jorge Brenes, president of AZOFRAS, said it is now up to legislative deputies to study CAFTA responsibly and not use it as a “political tool.” Brenes urged legislators to think about the “general well-being” of Costa Ricans when deciding the future of the trade agreement.

Brenes said CAFTA can provide greater security for foreign firms looking to invest in Costa Rica. The security the trade pact can provide, in addition to the skills of the Costa Rican workforce, will attract foreign direct investment geared toward exporting to the United States, he said.

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Suspects Detained
After Home Invasion

Police detained two men Wednesday night, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican, for their alleged participation in an assault on a home in Cartago, the Public Security Ministry announced.

Police say the two suspects entered a home 200 meters east of the cemetery in the neighborhood of San Juan Sur de Corralillo, threatened its residents with death, and proceeded to dig through furniture in search of valuable items and cash.

Police closed off area roads and conducted a thorough investigation of the area, eventually surprising the suspects behind a cathedral.

Officials claim they found a television, microwave, sound equipment, cell phone and cordless phone in the suspects’ car. Police say all items seized belonged to the family that had been robbed.

The Nicaraguan, identified as having a last name of Dávila, has a criminal history and, according to the Public Security Ministry, is in the country illegally.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005