Costa Rica lodged an arbitration panel against El Salvador on 20 January. EFE
A trade arbitration panel (Fecaxca) has sided with exporters in Costa Rica who claim that El Salvador creates a bottleneck in the free flow of merchandise through Central America. At issue are intrusive inspection procedures and inefficient infrastructure. Costa Rica will go before the World Trade Oranization (WTO) with the dispute later this month. El Salvador has a duty to allow the free flow of goods under a trade agreement with Costa Rica and the United States.