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On June 4, a Costa Rican court restored the Chaves administration's policy of dramatically lower tariffs on imported milled and rough rice, overturning an earlier court ruling that reversed the lower tariffs in April 2024.

FAS/San José anticipates Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Trade to allocate 2024 Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement rice quota allocations by the end of April, effectively constraining the availability of U.S. duty-free rice to the final eight months of 2024. Though Costa Rica typically allocates quota volumes in December of the preceding year, calculations of 2024 volumes have been contested by importers following an extraordinary process resulting from a 2022 cyber attack.

Costa Rica reinstated 35 percent tariffs on non-U.S.-origin rice after an administrative court overturned an August 2022 tariff reduction and the Government’s appeal was rejected. Demand for U.S. rice has surged following the tariff restoration on reduced South American-origin rice competitiveness.

U.S. rough rice exports have plummeted and the decline of Costa Rican rice production has accelerated sharply following the Government of Costa Rica’s August 2022 tariff rate reduction on imported rice from all origins.

On July 6, the Government of Costa Rica published a draft executive decree that would dramatically reduce tariffs on imported milled and rough rice. The vast majority of U.S. rice exported to Costa Rica in 2021 (valued at $25 million) entered under a duty free quota for rough rice established by the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Costa Rican consumers rushed to the supermarkets to buy higher volumes of basic staples such as rice and beans as the first cases of COVID-19 hit the country in March.

Costa Rica's rice production was negatively affected by Tropical Storm Nate in October, 2017.

Tropical Storm Nate passed through Costa Rica in early October causing widespread damage to infrastructure and to agriculture.

Costa Rican food processors and consumers trust and value food products that include U.S. raw materials and ingredients. Demand for quality ingredients has been steadily increasing...

The Government of Costa Rica recently issued a Decree fixing producer and consumer prices of rice, thus maintaining a longstanding policy of price fixing in the domestic rice market.

Recent high-profile activism against biotechnology has created uncertainty among those involved in production and research of biotechnology products in Costa Rica.