Authorized Government Agency(s):

The Department of Accreditation and Registry in Organic Agriculture (DARAO) at the direction of Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is in charge of legislation implementation

The National Organic Agriculture Program (PNAO) from the Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of the commercialization of organic products.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock's Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado (SFE) handles registration of organic certifiers, farms, and others.

Agency(s) Contact Information:

PNAO:
Phone: 506-2105-6100 ext. 1329 / 506-2296-7756
Fax: 506-2260-8300 ext 2088
Email: produccionorganica@mag.go.cr

SFE
Contacts:
Karla Morales
Phone: 506-2549-3476
Email: kmorales@sfe.go.cr

Juan Alberto Rojas
Phone: 506-2549-3545
Email: jrojasc@sfe.go.cr

Name(s) of Regulation and/or Standard:

Organic Agriculture Regulation Decree No. 29782 - 2001 (in Spanish) modifies No. 25834 of 1997 and 29067 of 2000.
Implementing regulations, passed in 2009: Reglamento para la ejecución e implementación de la ley para el desarrollo, promoción y fomento de la actividad agropecuaria orgánica, No. 8591
Amended by Executive Power Decrees No. 40863-MAG (in Spanish)

Costa Rica is a signatory to the Central American Technical Regulation (RTCA) 67.06.74:16 ‘Organic Agricultural Products: Requirements for production, processing, marketing, certification and labelling’. This regulation was agreed in 2019 by the six Central American countries and approved by the ministerial body of the Ministries of Economy, with the technical support of the Ministries and Secretariats of Agriculture of each state party and came into force on 25 October 2019. In Guatemala, it was officially established through Resolution No.411-2019 (COMIECO LXXXVVI) and in Ministerial Agreement No.394-2019 of Ministry of Economy (MINECO). RTCA Regulation (in Spanish) 

Also:
- Environmental Law No. 7554 - 1995/ (Promotion, research and control)
- Phytosanitary Protection Law No. 7664 - 1997 and its Regulation No. 26921-1997 (administrative and legal competence)

Date of Implementation: 1997
Date of implementation for RTCA 67.06.74:16: 2019

Regulation and/or Standard Scope:

The production, characterization, processing, packaging, marketing, identification and certification of organic agricultural products, as well as research and extension aspects, should be subject to relevant legislation and the provisions of the regulation.

A Guide for Labeling Organic Products (in Spanish) is available from the PNAO.

Certification:

Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado (SFE) maintains a list of accredited certifiers.

Accreditation:

The Accreditation Entity (ECA) is responsible for the accreditation of certification agencies to operate within Costa Rica.

Reference Standards:

The national control system has been recognized as equivalent by the European Union in 2003, which means that Costa Rica has a third country status according to EU 834/2007 and 889/2008 in the European Union.

Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, plus Panama and the Dominican Republic have benchmarked their standards to a regional organic standard - the Central America Regional Standard. The standard is now implemented as regulations in these countries..

Additional Information:

Costa Rica has an Equivalence Agreement with Canada.

USDA's GAIN Report Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Annual Country Report (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Export Certificate Report (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Costa Rica Exporter Guide (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Costa Rica Food Processing Ingredients (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Costa Rica Retail Foods Report (2024)
USDA's GAIN Report Costa Rica Food Service - Hotel Restaurant Institutional (2023)