Costa Rica is seeking more time to ratify the free trade agreement with Central America and the United States (CAFTA-DR) after yet another stumbling block to its final approval was raised in the country's legislature.
The Costa Rican government has already begun to put out diplomatic feelers with the United States embassy in San Jose over whether the October 1 deadline for the country to complete its legal formalities and cede to the pact may be pushed back, and President Oscar Arias was due to meet with US President George Bush to discuss the issue at a meeting of Central American leaders in New York this week.
Costa Rica's legislative assembly has passed all but one of the complementary laws needed for the ratification of CAFTA-DR, but the constitutional court has taken issue with the last item, dealing with intellectual property, arguing that the government had not consulted adequately on its provisions. The legislative process to iron out this issue could take up to three months to complete.
This is the second time that Costa Rica has asked for an extension of the deadline after the country was granted more time by its CAFTA partners in February to complete the legal process.
The implementation of CAFTA-DR in Costa Rica has been beset by problems since the country signed up to the agreement in 2004 as opposition lawmakers attempted to erect every legal hurdle they could find to stop the deal in its tracks. There has also been fierce criticism from labor unions which has manifested itself in violent street demonstrations against the trade pact.
CAFTA would eliminate duties on more than half the value of US farm exports to the region, expand intellectual property protections, and open telecommunications and other markets such as insurance, thus breaking long-held monopolies in Costa Rica. CAFTA would also eliminate tariffs on 80% of US exports of consumer and industrial goods in signatory countries, with the remaining tariffs phased out over 10 years. Critics have contended that this will flood the country with cheap imports, rendering Costa Rican firms unable to compete, leading to mass job losses.
Costa Rica is the only signatory not to have ratified the deal. The pact has already taken effect in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador and the US.
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