The greatest fear of opening the rice business for the Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) is that the potato and the onion are left aside.
Alexánder Mora, Minister of Foreign Trade, explained that these are the only two products that were excluded from the trade agreement.
The official stated that he will have a meeting with representatives from the National Rice
Corporation (CONARROZ) and president Luis Guillermo Solís to discuss the issue.
Rice producers will have two approaches: to renegotiate or enforce trade defense measures or it will all depend on the Ministry of Economy.
In trade defense, tariffs can be provisionally imposed under certain conditions, which must be proven.
In that sense, it is mandatory to demonstrate that the productive area is being affected and that this is a direct consequence of the incentives or subsidies of a country.
Regarding reviewing the CAFTA, Mora recalled that Costa Rica is not obliged to accept what other countries do, since each agreement is bilateral.
What we fear is that onions and potatoes are the only ones excluded. The natural thing would be to change that, knowing that the exclusion caused criticism in the United States, because it is a producer country,
stated Mora.
The Minister considers that the US will ask for any concession if a renegotiation is proposed.
Currently, there are seven products with tariffs, including rice, pork, dairy products, sugar, among others.
Rice producers have insisted that a renegotiation of the CAFTA is possible.