WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONRESTRICTED
G/LIC/Q/CRI/4
22 May 2002
(02-2831)
Committee on Import Licensing Original: English
NOTIFICATION OF REPLIES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON
IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES FROM COSTA RICA1
Comments and question from the UNITED STATES to COSTA RICA2
The following communication, dated 15 May 2002, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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As notified in G/LIC/N/3/CRI/3, Costa Rica allocates the right to a lower tariff rate
within TRQs for a number of agricultural products, including rice. This allocation system operates as
a non-automatic licensing system within the terms of the WTO Agreement, and Costa Rica has
notified its legislation and responded to the questionnaire.
The United States has been a traditional importer of Costa Rican rice for the duration of the
current system and has found the system difficult to use from its inception. In particular, import
permits are not granted on the transparent and predictable system described in Costa Rica’s
notifications.
Costa Rica has re-monopolized the importation of rice through the National Production
Council (CNP), a state entity, in order to control the import quantity and the price of the rice.
According to Costa Rica’s national law, all import permits must be processed within eight days. In
special cases there is an extension of four days.
In this case, it is our information that Costa Rica has not granted import permits since the
beginning of the year. In addition, permits initially granted for imports this year have been
invalidated, resulting in substantial financial losses to the companies that were attempting to use the
market access established by Costa Rica in its WTO commitments both at the time of accession and
subsequently in the Uruguay Round. Despite efforts from Washington and by our Embassy in San
Jose, the government of Costa Rica has not given a clear explanation for its refusal to issue the import
permits for rice.
Please explain why the system outlined in G/LIC/N/3/CRI/3 is not working and how US
exporters of rice can make use of the market access negotiated on their behalf with Costa
Rica.
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1G/LIC/N/3/CRI/3.
2See Understanding on Procedures for the Review of Notifications (G/LIC/4).