During the two last decades, Costa Rica�s trade policy has shifted from being one with a high level of protection into one that promotes openness and active trade negotiations internationally.

• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Free Trade Agreement between Central America and Dominican Republic, Law No. 7882 on June 9th 1999, published in La Gaceta No. 132 on July 8th 1999, in effect as of March 7th, 2002.
• CHILE Free Trade Agreement between Central America and Chile, Law No. 8055 on January 4th 2001, published in La Gaceta No. 42 on February 28th 2001, in effect as of February 15th 2002.
• CANADA Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica and the Government of Canada, signed in Ottawa on April 23rd 2001.
• MEXICO Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica and the Government of the United Mexican States, Law No.7474 on December 19th 1994, published in La Gaceta No. 244 on December 23rd 1994, in effect as of January 1st 1995.
• CARICOM: Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Costa Rica and the Caribbean States community.
• PANAMA Free Trade Agreement and Preferential Exchange between the Republics of Costa Rica and Panama, Law No. 5252 on July 18th 1973, published in La Gaceta No. 142, July 31st 1973.
• Central America.

Costa Rica:
Preferential Access To Markets

• United States Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, C.B.E.R.A. Caribbean Basin Initiative, C.B.I.
• Europe European Union Generalized Preferential Tariff System
• Asia
  

Costa Rica:
Trade Agreements Currently In Progress

• Central American Free Trade Agreement with the USA (CAFTA) Signed on May 28th of 2004.

For more information, visit the Ministry of Foreign Trade website: www.comex.go.cr

By 1985, as part of the trade concessions granted by the US government to several countries in Latin America coming out of debt crisis, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a unilateral mechanism through which Costa Rica exports duty-free products to the US to this date, was created.  Later, in 1990 Costa Rica joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and since then actively participates in multilateral negotiations concerning the elimination of tariffs, and at the same time, in numerous bilateral trade agreements with its most important trade partners.In 1994, the first Free Trade Agreement as such was negotiated and ratified with Mexico, and since then, Costa Rica started an aggressive venture in international markets with relevant governmental support through COMEX (Foreign Trade Ministry) and its trade promotion agency, PROCOMER.