Archive for January 20th, 2009
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
It’s been almost five years, but soon Costa Rican tomatoes and sweet peppers could be on store shelves in the United States by the end of the month.
The sanitary agreement between the United States and Costa Rica that would allow the import of vegetable tomatoes and peppers produced in greenhouses in selected area is almost ready to be signed.
As of today tomatoes and peppers grown in Costa Rica are not available in the US as a protection against the possible entry of fruit flies into the US.
The agreement that is expected to be signed by the end of the month is within the negotiated Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) – Central American Free Trade Agreeement (CAFTA)- that went into effect on January 1, 2009.
The first step in the process was to identify areas of production with a lower incident of the fruit fly. The area surrounding the the Central Volcanic Range was chosen. The area is well known for its cooler climate and with considerable height above sea level making it difficult for the insects.
The agreement calls for the production to be exclusively in greenhouses and controlled climate conditions, and producers have to be certified after their farms are inspected and the workers trained before exports to the US can be authorized.
The process is costly, however, the investment can be quickly recovered as the products have a higher value in the US markets.
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
Costa Rican authorities called off their search on Monday for victims of landslides from an deadly earthquake 11 days ago.
Rescue teams have pulled 23 bodies from the Poas volcano region, where waves of earth buried cars and crushed homes during a 6.1 magnitude quake on Jan 8. Seven people are still missing, officials said.
Shifting ground and the threat of landslides have menaced rescuers digging through rubble in search of survivors.
“The victims are presumed to be in areas that are inaccessible because so much earth would have to be moved and because of dangerous conditions,” said Reinaldo Carballo, a spokesman for the country’s emergency response agency.
Costa Rica is a popular tourist destination because of its lush natural parks, volcanoes and rich wildlife, but it is prone to natural disasters like the rest of Central America.
Government officials preliminarily estimate the damage of the earthquake at $100 million (69 million pounds).
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
Costa Rica and China began on Monday the first round of negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), said the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry.
The two sides expect to set the “roadmap” for the free trade talks in the first round of negotiations, including the layout for the agreement and steps to be taken for its realization.
A total of six rounds of talks will be held on the agreement, and Costa Rica hopes all the negotiations will wrap up by May 2010,said Marco Vinicio Ruiz, Costa Rican Trade Minister.
China and Costa Rica agreed to launch talks for a free trade agreement during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the central American country in November 2008.
China is Costa Rica’s second largest trading partner, and Costa Rica China’s second biggest in central America. Their two-way trade is growing rapidly, with the volume hitting 2.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.
Among Latin American countries, China has signed a free trade agreement with Chile and is holding negotiations on such a deal with Peru.
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Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
A Costa Rican official says direct foreign investment in the Central American country is expected to fall by 30 percent in 2009 because of the global economic crisis.
Costa Rican Investment Board Director Gabriela Llobet says job growth will remain stable with 5,500 new posts expected this year.
Llobet said Monday that 30 foreign companies established operations in Costa Rica in 2008, and together with other foreign countries already there generated investments of $428 million.
She says fewer companies are expected to come to Costa Rica in 2009.
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