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On June 4, a Costa Rican court restored the Chaves administration's policy of dramatically lower tariffs on imported milled and rough rice, overturning an earlier court ruling that reversed the lower tariffs in April 2024.

FAS/San José anticipates Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Trade to allocate 2024 Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement rice quota allocations by the end of April, effectively constraining the availability of U.S. duty-free rice to the final eight months of 2024. Though Costa Rica typically allocates quota volumes in December of the preceding year, calculations of 2024 volumes have been contested by importers following an extraordinary process resulting from a 2022 cyber attack.

Costa Rica reinstated 35 percent tariffs on non-U.S.-origin rice after an administrative court overturned an August 2022 tariff reduction and the Government’s appeal was rejected. Demand for U.S. rice has surged following the tariff restoration on reduced South American-origin rice competitiveness.

U.S. rough rice exports have plummeted and the decline of Costa Rican rice production has accelerated sharply following the Government of Costa Rica’s August 2022 tariff rate reduction on imported rice from all origins.

Located on the west coast of southern Africa, Angola borders the four nations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Namibia, and Zambia. Approximately 10 percent of arable land is used for agriculture, with food production falling short of consumer demand, making Angola reliant on imports to meet its needs.

On July 6, the Government of Costa Rica published a draft executive decree that would dramatically reduce tariffs on imported milled and rough rice. The vast majority of U.S. rice exported to Costa Rica in 2021 (valued at $25 million) entered under a duty free quota for rough rice established by the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Angola’s wheat milling capacity has increased to achieve self-sufficiency with five wheat mills now operating in the country, with milling capacity of up to 1 million metric tons of wheat per year.

Damage to port facilities in New Orleans during Hurricane Ida caused significant delays to shipments of U.S. feed grains to Costa Rica, where the poultry, pork, and dairy sectors rely almost exclusively on U.S. suppliers.

Costa Rican consumers rushed to the supermarkets to buy higher volumes of basic staples such as rice and beans as the first cases of COVID-19 hit the country in March.

This report provides information on the export certification requirements of the Government of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica's rice production was negatively affected by Tropical Storm Nate in October, 2017.

This report provides information on the export certification requirements of the Government of Costa Rica.