TLC Soap Opera Ends
With the passage of the
Intellectual Propety law
yesterday, Costa Rica is
now ready to ratify the
Tratado de Libre
Comercio (TLC) and join
the Central America Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
After fours years of
debates and stalling,
resulting in the first
ever public referendum
vote, the TLC is more a
reality today than it
has ever been in the
past.
Missing two deadlines,
March 31 and September
30, Costa Rican now has
up to December 31 to
prepare all the required
documentation and
executive orders to be
able to deposit with the
Organization of American
States (OAS) the
document that goes into
effect on January 1,
2009.
The TLC has meant, among
other things, an opening
of the
telecommunications and
insurance market to
competition - ending a
decades long monopoly in
both sectors, something
opposing legislators
didn't want.
Costa Rica is the only
signatory country to the
trad deal that has yet
to ratify the agreement,
while Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and the
Dominican Republic have
all ratified and
implemented their
respective trade
agreements with the
United States.
Although all the hurdles
have been cleared, the
last being the passing
of the intellectual
properties law, used by
the opposition to stall
the process in the hopes
of not meeting the last
of deadline, the actual
ratification is not
assured, as the
government still has a
lot of work to do before
it can give the OAS the
thumbs up.
Costa Rican president,
Oscar Arias, said that
his government will
quickly finalize the
paperwork needed for the
TLC (CAFTA) to take
effect.
"After more than four
and a half years of
debate, two extensions
and one historic
referendum in which the
majority said they
agreed with the free
trade accord, we are
finally closing this
chapter," said the
president's spokesman
and brother, Rodrigo
Arias.
Costa Rica's agriculture
sector stands to benefit
the most from the new
agreement, particularly
specialized fruits and
vegetables such as
pineapple and yucca.
Costa Ricans are also
hoping competition in
the cellular phone
industry will lower
costs and offer more
services.
Under the state-run
monopoly, it was
difficult to even get a
new cellular telephone
line as the state owned
agency, the Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE),
battles with the
bureaucracy that has
dogged the institution
for decades. The same
with insurance, although
the Instituto Nacional
de Seguros (INS) has
been more proactive in
the face of a
competitive market.
While several
telecommunications
companies have expressed
interest in starting up
businesses in Costa Rica
after January 1, there
hasn't been the same
level of interest in the
insurance industry,
mostly because of the
global financial crisis.
Chamber of Commerce
President Manuel
Rodriguez said the
accord "opens a window
of opportunities for
small businesses."
The pending deal has
mobilized large protests
in Costa Rica in the
past, but Tuesday's news
came with no public
opposition.
U.S. President-elect
Barack Obama has opposed
CAFTA, arguing it "did
not contain the sorts of
labor provisions and
environmental provisions
that should have been
embedded and should have
been enforceable in
those agreements."
The final vote on the
intellectual property
law came at 12:11pm, 38
voted in favour and 13
against, closing the
final chapter to a long,
long soap opera. |
