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.

Article reprinted from insidecostarica.com