. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CRI/32 
1 April 2004 
 (04-1482) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  COSTA RICA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  
Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Trade (MEIC) 
Technical Regulation Body 
Tel.: (506) 297-1439 and 235-2700, ext. 265 
E-mail: crotc@meic.go.cr Web site: www.meic.go.cr
 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Fresh cabbage for consumption (HS tariff item No. 0704.90.00.00)  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
parties trading this product with Costa Rica. 
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Costa Rican Technical 
Regulation RTCR___:2003, Fresh Cabbage for Consumption  (11 pages, in Spanish).  
6. Description of content:  This technical regulation defines the quality, safety, packaging 
and labelling requirements for fresh domestic  and imported cabbage of the varieties 
(cultivars) of Brassica oleracea var. capitata  for consumption in Costa Rica. 
7. Objective and rationale: [  X ] food safety,  [    ] animal health,  [    ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [    ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    G/SPS/N/CRI/32 
Page 2  
 
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  
 Bolaños A., Segura L., Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Vegetable 
Programme, Regional Office for Greece, " Aspectos Técnicos sobre Cuarentena y Cinco 
Cultivos Agrícolas de Costa Rica" (Technical aspects of quarantine and five agricultural 
crops in Costa Rica), San José, Costa Rica, 1991; 
 Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the National Production Council 
(CNP),  " Guía No. 7 para el Manejo del Repollo  (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) a 
Comercializar en el CENADA" (Manual No. 7 on the handling of cabbage ( Brassica 
oleracea var. capitata ) for marketing in the National Food Supply and Distribution Centre , 
CENADA), Directorate of Phytosanitary Protection Services, Agricultural Inputs 
Department, Agricultural Quality Control Depa rtment, Post-Harvest Section, San José, 
Costa Rica;  Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Trade (MEIC), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the National Production Council (CNP), " Estudio de caracterización 
en campo ", 2003;   
 Programa Integral de Mercadeo Agropecu ario, PIMA, (Comprehensive Agricultural 
Marketing Programme), " Comercialización Hortifrutícola en CENADA " (Fruit and 
vegetable marketing in the CENADA), 2001;  " Tropical Products Transport Handbook ", United States Department of Agriculture 
(USDA), Office of Transportation, Agricultu ral Handbook No. 668, McGregor, B.M., 1989; 
Executive Decree No. 24907-MEIC NCR 230:1995, " Productos Hortícolas Frescos. 
Muestreo " (Fresh horticultural products. Sampling) , published in the Official Journal, La 
Gaceta , No. 25 of 5 February 1996;  
 Executive Decree No. 26012-MEIC RTCR 100:1997, " Etiquetado de los Alimentos 
Preenvasados " (Labelling of pre-packaged foods), published in La Gaceta No. 91 of 
14 May 1997 and the revised version thereof; 
 Executive Decree No. 22268-MEIC NCR 148:1993, " Metrología de Contenido 
Neto de Preempacados " (Metrology: Net contents of pre-packaged goods), published in La 
Gaceta  No. 132 of 13 July 1993; 
 Geovanny Carmona Villalobos, Na tional Production Council (CNP), " Rol de la 
Temperatura en el Almacenamiento de Productos Frescos " (The role of temperature in the 
storage of fresh products),  December 2001.  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Upon publication in the Official Journal, La Gaceta . 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days as of the date of notification. 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [  X ] National notification 
authority, [    ] National enquiry point, or add ress, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:    
13. Texts available from:  [  X ] National notification authority, [    ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
National notification authority: 
Ministerio de Comercio Exterior 
Dirección de Aplicación de Acuer dos Comerciales Internacionales 
Tel.: (506) 256-7111, ext. 461 E-mail: aporras@comex.go.cr Web site: www.comex.go.cr