The National Chamber of Farmers does not support the renegotiation, or revision, as Comex now calls it, of the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.
As reported in a statement, they are not satisfied that the list includes sectors such as cattle, pigs, fish, flowers, coffee, oil and sugar, which are sectors where Colombia wants immediate free access.
Juan Rafael Lizano, president of the chamber, said that although Comex says otherwise, authorities are facing a renegotiation of the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia:
As we have said on other occasions, if we give up, we lose competitiveness, that is why the agricultural sector calls for rejection of the Colombian proposal and maintain the provisions from the initial FTA.
One of the most concerning issues is the competitiveness, because in the south, there are support and encouragement programs that have allowed the productive sector of that country not only to be strengthened but also to be prepared to compete.
Let’s remember that Costa Rican farmers must face the high prices of fuels, the exchange rate and other factors that put us at a clear disadvantage with competitors like Colombia,
declared the official.
By the end of 2016, Colombia requested to improve 321 subsections of the Treaty. However, such requests are not mandatory and can be rejected by maintaining the conditions agreed upon with the signing of the treaty.