Costa Rica Constitutional Court Puts Up Roadblocks To CAFTA Over IP

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

16 September 2008

Despite an extension granted earlier this year to allow the Costa Rican government to pass the necessary legislative measures, there are concerns that the country is unlikely to meet an October 1 deadline, meaning that its entry to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) may be delayed.

Although CAFTA was ratified by Costa Rican voters almost a year ago, the Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the Legislative Assembly should not have passed legislative changes affecting the country's intellectual property regime without consulting indigenous groups, "in accordance with Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization".

Despite stating that it will do "everything possible and within its reach" to ensure that Costa Rica's entry to the free trade area created by CAFTA is not negatively impacted, observers have suggested that the roadblock put in place by the Constitutional Court's 4-3 ruling last week is unlikely to be surmounted by the October 1 deadline.

Commenting in February of this year with regard to the extension afforded to Costa Rica at the time, US Trade Representative, Susan Schwab stated that:

“The people of Costa Rica approved the CAFTA-DR in a national referendum in October 2007. The referendum demonstrated strong public support for the trade agreement. Since then, Costa Rica has been working hard to adopt the measures required to carry out its obligations under the CAFTA-DR."

"While it has already made considerable progress, the Costa Rican government needs more time to complete its legislative and regulatory process before the CAFTA-DR can enter into force. Today’s agreement will give Costa Rica until October 1, 2008, although we hope that Costa Rica will complete its implementing process before that date. We look forward to Costa Rica joining its Central American partners and the Dominican Republic in seizing the economic opportunities provided by the CAFTA-DR."

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