Legislators passed the second of 11 bills required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) this week.
Under the bill, companies that engage in corruption will be shut down for up to five years with their operating licenses suspended. People convicted of bribing public officials, as well as officials who accept bribes, will go to jail for two to eight years. The bill also protects the privacy of people who expose corruption.
The bill was approved unanimously Wednesday in one of the assembly's three 19-member committees that have the power to pass laws. Legislators from the anti-CAFTA Citizen Action Party (PAC), voted for the bill, which will become law once President Oscar Arias signs it.
Last month, legislators passed the first CAFTA bill, which will regulate the relationship between foreign firms and their representatives in the United States. The remaining nine CAFTA bills, now under discussion by the assembly, are more controversial. They would open state monopolies on telecommunications and insurance and strengthen intellectual property rights.
If legislators do not pass all the CAFTA bills before Feb. 29, 2008, Costa Rica must ask for an extension from the treaty's other signers. |
| 
| Exchange Rates
