LatinNews Daily - 20 December 2022

*Costa Rica’s government led by President Rodrigo Chaves has announced the conclusion of a fourth round of talks regarding a trade association agreement with Ecuador. The new agreement will lift tariffs applied in Ecuador on Costa Rican exports such as ground roasted coffee, tyres, electric batteries, vitamin supplements, medicines, fruit juices, among other things according to a press release by Costa Rica’s presidency. As well as consolidating and improving access for current and potential exports, the agreement will permit the two sides to create a stable legal framework to continue promoting and developing investment and strategic alliances. The press release adds that the new agreement will, for the first time, include dispositions related to gender equity, good regulatory practice and the strengthening of small and medium-size businesses. It said that the agreement, which when it takes effect will see over 90% of Costa Rica’s exports enter Ecuador’s market tariff free, is now subject to legal revisions before being signed, which it hopes will take place in the first quarter of 2023 before then going to the legislature for approval. The negotiations are in line with Chaves’s push for Costa Rica to boost trade as part of more general efforts to drive economic growth. He also wants Costa Rica to join both the Pacific Alliance trade bloc (comprising Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which launched in March 2018.

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