The government decided to postpone the meeting with the European Union in Brussels. It aimed to protect the exportation of ornamental plants. The decision was made due to the cancellation of flights as a result of the ash fall.
In addition, MAG authorities allowed the Ministry of Foreign Trade to negotiate with the European Union a new appointment to defend Costa Rica’s scientific position regarding the research conducted since June 2015, when the trading on ornamental plants ceased.
Marco Vinicio Jiménez, director of SFE, explained that during the entire time that the market has been closed, they have not stopped researching, sampling and controlling in order to guarantee that the variety of Xylella fastidiosa existing in Costa Rica, especially on coffee, is a different stump from the one that is in Europe, so that specie doesn’t represent a risk to European plants.