TLC With The US Goes
Into Effect Tomorrow
Tomorrow, January 1,
2009, is a new day for
Costa Rica as the long
and costly debate of the
Tratado de Libre
Comercio (TLC) - the
free trade deal with the
United States and
Central America - goes
into effect.
It took some four years
for Costa Rica to
negotiate and ratify the
trade deal, making Costa
Rica the only country so
far to ask, for not one,
but two extensions from
its trade partners to
the trade deal.
The ratification process
also included the
calling of a national
referendum on the issue,
another first for the
country, where citizens
were asked to decide.
The referendum won the
approval of Costa Rican
by a slight margin.
All this came with a
high price tag - ˘470
million colones
(us$845.000) - and more
than two years of
Legislative Assembly
time to pass the 13
"parallel" laws that
were required under the
trade deal, that
included the ending of
the telecommunications
and insurance monopoly
held by state agencies,
the Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) and
Instituto Nacional de
Seguros (INS).
Although ICE and INS
continue being the only
provider of
telecommunications and
insurance, competition
is knocking on the
country's door and is
only a matter of time
before Costa Ricans can
choose their telephone
carrier or insurer. |
