WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/AG/N/CRI/26 
7 January 2010 
 
 (10-0033) 
Committee on Agriculture Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
  The following communication, dated 25 June 2009,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Costa Rica .  The notification concerns new or modified domestic support measures 
exempt from reduction (Table DS:2) . G/AG/N/CRI/26 
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  Table DS:2 
 
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  Costa Rica 
 
Notification Under Article 18.3 of the Agreement: 
New or Modified Domestic Support Measures Exempt from Reduction 
__________________________________________________________________________________ 
 (1) Full title of the measure:  Programme for the Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural 
Production, Loan Contract No. 1436/OC-CR.  
(2) Domestic legislation reference: 
 Law No. 8408 published in the Official Journal ( La Gaceta ) of Tuesday, 27 April 2004. 
 
(3) Detailed description of the measure with reference to criteria: 
 Component I :  Investment and technical assistance  in sustainable agricultural production 
(8.8 million US dollars).  To provide solutions  to the interrelated problems of competitiveness 
and sustainable management of natural res ources affecting the small and medium-size 
producers of Costa Rica.  This component comprises funds from the loan totalling 6.3 million US dollars and the national counterpart of 2. 5 million US dollars.  The national counterpart 
does not involve any commitment to transfer funds to the Programme Coordination Unit, since it is considered to be a contribution "in kind", comprising staff from the Ministry of 
Agriculture (MAG) involved in the implementation of the project and subsequent investments 
in the farm, as well as technical assistance projects. 
  Component II :  Training and information (2.35 million US dollars).  This component has 
three objectives:  (i) to build up the capac ity of producers' organizations, women's 
organizations and rural youth so that these gr oups can operate as enterprises and gradually do 
away with technical assistance from the governmen t;  (ii) to train advisors from the MAG and 
service suppliers to deal with the new demands  of the organizations in non-traditional areas 
and with respect to competitiveness;  and (iii) to  adapt the Infoagro system by connecting the 
central system with all of the MAG Agricultura l Service Agency (ASA) networks to ensure 
that producers have access to the information needed for the competitiv eness of the sector.  
This component comprises a total of 2.07 million US dollars of funding from the loan, and a 
national counterpart of 280,000 US dollars.  As in the case of Component I, there is no transfer of funds.  The contribution is made "i n kind" in the form of training time provided by 
MAG technicians and time devoted by farmers pa rticipating in the training programme, which 
is valued at 10 per cent of the training costs and is considered to constitute the national 
counterpart. 
  Component III :  Studies to enhance the competitiveness of the agriculture sector (1.6 million 
US dollars).  The purpose of this component is  to provide the MAG with the necessary tools 
to develop its agricultural policy in the light  of the new competitiveness challenges and to 
foster the development of environmenta lly sustainable agricultural activities. 
 
 Supervision, administration, audits:  Th is area comes under the responsibility of the 
Programme Coordination Unit.  Of the total amount budgeted (2.1 million US dollars), a sum 
of 300,000 US dollars corresponds to the national counterpart.  As with the other components, 
it is a contribution "in kind", in this case via th e Executive Secretariat for Sectoral Planning in  G/AG/N/CRI/26 
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  Agriculture (SEPSA), and chiefly concerns th e responsibilities assigned by the Programme in 
the follow up, assessment and in ex post evaluation areas. 
  The measure conforms to the general criteria set forth in Annex 2, paragraph 1, of the 
Agreement on Agriculture, given that the support was provided through a publicly funded 
government programme not involving transfers from consumers, and that the measure did not 
have the effect of providing price support to producers. 
  The measure also complies with the general crite ria set forth in Annex 2, paragraph 11 of the 
Agreement on Agriculture concerning structur al adjustment assistance provided through 
investment aides. 
 (4) Cost of the measure:  Initial external financing:  US$14,400,000  
 Current external financing:  US$3,634,993.33  National counterpart:  US$3,200,000 
 
(5) Date of entry into effect :  27 April 2004.  
(6) Period of application:  From April 2004 to March 2009.  
(7) Products to principally bene fit (if any individual product):  Cooperatives, associations, 
processing plants, chambers, agricultural centres, federations.  G/AG/N/CRI/26 
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  Table DS:2 
 
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  Costa Rica 
 
Notification Under Article 18.3 of the Agreement: 
New or Modified Domestic Support Measures Exempt from Reduction 
 
 
 
 (1) Full title of the measure:  Farming and livestock protection a nd development trust for small 
and medium-sized producers (FIDAGRO) 
 
(2) Domestic legislation reference:  
 
 Law 8147 of 24 October 2001.  Official Journal ( La Gaceta ) No. 216 of 9 November 2001.  
Subsequently amended by Laws No. 8332, 8390 and 8427, and Operating Regulations in 
Decree No. 32101-MAG and amendments. 
 
(3) Detailed description of measure with reference to criteria: 
 
 FIDAGRO contributes to the country's economic and social development through financial 
recovery (that is, debt  purchase and restructuring) and rein sertion into productive activity of 
small and medium-sized agricultural producers who, as a result of natural disasters, erratic fluctuations in international and domestic pri ces of agricultural goods and inputs and specific 
market conditions, have lost their financial autonomy and are not eligible for credit from 
financial intermediaries. 
 
 The debts purchased are restructured for a maximum period of 15 years, with a three-year 
grace period on the principal and interest, at a fi xed interest rate of two percentage points 
below the lowest basic borrowing rate calcu lated by the Central Bank of Costa Rica. 
  The measure conforms to the general criteria set forth in Annex 2, paragraph 1, of the 
Agreement on Agriculture, given that the s upport was provided through a publicly funded 
government programme not involving transfers fro m consumers, and that the measure did not 
have the effect of providing price support to producers. 
  The measure also complies with the general crite ria set forth in Annex 2, paragraph 11 of the 
Agreement on Agriculture concerning struct ural adjustment assistance provided through 
investment aids. 
 (4) Cost of the measure:   FIDAGRO's assets consist of the following:  (a) a mandatory 
contribution by the State commercial banks, public or private entities authorized to provide 
financial intermediation services, and private fi nancial groups authorized and supervised by 
the General Supervisory Authority for Financial Entities;  (b) gifts and transfers of all kinds 
on the part of natural persons, public and pr ivate entities and national and international 
organizations. 
 (5) Date of entry into effect:   9 November 2001, date of publication of Law No. 8147. 
  G/AG/N/CRI/26 
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  (6) Period of application:   From November 2001 to May 2008, date of entry into force of 
Law 8634 on the development bank system , published in Official Journal ( La Gaceta ) No. 87 
of 7 May 2008, repealing Law 8147 by which FIDAGRO was created. 
 (7) Products to principally bene fit (if any individual product(s)):   Small and medium-sized 
agricultural producers, chiefly in the following sectors:  coff ee, basic grains, cattle, fruit, 
vegetables, tropical roots, palm hearts, sugar cane, fisheries, rabbit breeding, pig farming, 
poultry keeping, bee keeping, flowers and ornamental plants, etc. 
 
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