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COSTA RICA |
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Costa Rica Coffee Growers Eye China Free
Trade Deal
A planned trade deal between Costa Rica and
China might bring a bounty to coffee growers
in Costa Rica which has an advantage over
its neighbors who are still allied with
Beijing's rival Taiwan.
If a text is agreed for the trade pact,
currently in the last round of negotiations,
Costa Rica could become the third Latin
American country after Chile and Peru to
reach such a deal with China.
Costa Rica is seeking "immediate access" of
its high quality beans to the Asian giant,
Costa Rica's chief negotiator, Fernando
Ocampo said. China is Costa Rica's
second-largest trade partner after the
United States.
Last week, the two countries concluded a
fifth round of free trade talks, but will
draw up norms on coffee, sugar and other
agriculture products in a sixth and final
round of negotiation in mid-February.
On Thursday, coffee industry leaders from
around the world are gathering in the Costa
Rican province of Guanacaste for the annual
Sintercafe three-day coffee conference.
Coffee demand in traditionally tea-drinking
China has risen in recent years as the
country's fast economic growth means a
growing class of young, upwardly mobile
consumers could be next to adopt coffee
drinking habits.
"It's such a big market that there are
always opportunities for different kinds of
coffee," said Juan Carlos Vargas, general
manager of Coopetarrazu, which groups 250
small producers in the lush Tarrazu region
of western Costa Rica.
Vargas said the Chinese market is developing
a taste for Costa Rica's fine coffee, not
just cheaper, lower-quality Vietnamese
robusta or domestically-grown coffee.
"They are going to be interested in our
coffee. In fact, Starbucks is already
there," he said.
Starbucks Corp , a top buyer of Costa Rican
coffee, has nearly 700 cafes in China now
and sees the potential for thousands of new
stores. China has seen double-digit growth
in coffee sales in the past couple of years.
Costa Rica ended a 60-year diplomatic ties
with Taiwan and forged relations with
mainland China in 2007.
China shuns commercial relationships with
governments like Guatemala -- Central
America's No. 1 coffee producer -- that
recognize Taiwan as a country.
But an untapped market of China's size is
not enough to win the immediate support of
all farmers, who have called on the
government to protect the high-quality
reputation of Costa Rican coffee with a
certification clause in the trade pact.
Ronald Peters, executive director of the
government-funded Costa Rica Coffee
Institute, said local farmers worry Chinese
importers could mix their specialty beans in
blends and pass it off as Costa Rican,
diluting the brand.
"We have a clear position in terms of
demanding a strict origin norm to inform
(buyers) that the Costa Rican coffee was
produced in Costa Rica," Peters said.
Costa Rica's small-scale coffee farmers, who
grow the famed beans on parcels of just 5
hectares or less, comprise more than 90
percent of the country's production. |
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