Browse Data and Analysis

With a stable democracy, predictable business climate, and economic growth fueled by a resurgent tourism industry, Costa Rica presents excellent export opportunities for U.S. food and beverage exporters in 2023.

FAS/San José anticipates Costa Rican orange production to rise to 305,000 metric tons in marketing year 2022/23, despite challenging growing conditions, as effective citrus greening management and increased density tree patterns drive yields higher.

The members of the Pacific trade bloc Alliance advanced Costa Rica’s bid for full membership, charting a course for Costa Rica to formally join Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile in 2023.

This report documents Angola’s technical policies, practices, and import requirements for food and agricultural products. In the absence of a food safety law, Angola follows international Codex Alimentarius standards. This country report is designed to be used in conjunction with the 2022 FAIRS Export Certificate report.

This report documents Angola’s technical policies, practices, and import requirements for food and agricultural products. In the absence of a food safety law, Angola follows international Codex Alimentarius standards. This country report is designed to be used in conjunction with the 2022 FAIRS Export Certificate report.

This report lists major certificates and permits required to export food and agricultural products from the United States to Angola. It is recommended that this report be read with the FAIRS – Narrative Report for a comprehensive understanding of the Angola regulations, standards, and import requirements.

Angola currently does not allow the use of agricultural biotechnology in production, and imports containing genetically engineered (GE) components are limited to food aid. In December 2004, the Council of Ministers approved Decree No. 92/04 restricting the use of biotechnology in Angola as a provisional measure pending the establishment of a comprehensive National Biosafety System capable of properly controlling the importation, entry, use, and eventual production of GE organisms in the country.

Though area planted with genetically engineered crops continued to fall in 2022, expanded operations of another cottonseed producer, opportunities to increase pink pineapple exports, and a new government opposed to ‘red tape’ could reverse this trend in 2023. While neither livestock nor other animal producers in Costa Rica appear interested in animal biotechnology applications at this time, a regulatory structure exists.

As the economic environment in Angola has improved, Angolan chicken meat imports also recovered, increasing 57 percent in 2021. Post expects 2022 imports will show slight year-over-year growth as well. In 2021, Angola was the world’s seventh largest importer of U.S. chicken meat by value ($125 million).

U.S. exports of consumer-oriented products rose 34 percent in 2021, climbing to $394 million, due in part to a strong recovery in the tourism sector. There were more than 1.4 million in-bound international travelers through July 2022, slightly off the pre-pandemic pace, but more than double 2021 levels and including nearly 820,000 Americans.

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.

The Costa Rican retail sector is growing despite lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, and rising prices. An increasing number of modern supermarkets stock an expanding range of imported products that reflect global and local retail trends, including clean labels, responsible packaging, and organic products.