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.

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.

This report summarizes the list of major export certificates, documentations, and other regulatory requirements to export food and agricultural products to Ethiopia. The report is organized using information obtained from publicly available sources published online as well as from industry contacts.

This report discusses regulatory requirements and standards that must be fulfilled to export food and agricultural products to Ethiopia. Pertinent information on applicable laws, regulations, directives, guidelines, procedures, and key regulatory contact details included.

Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan (2021-2030) identifies sustained and quality agriculture programs to accelerate economic progress and ensure national food security as its national strategy. The development of small and large-scale irrigation infrastructure in the Ethiopian lowlands has recently been given increasing due attention by the GOE - among other contributing factors like improved seed, fertilizer supply, and use of mechanization on the clustered wheat farms.

The forex shortage in the country is becoming critical and the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has banned 38 different products which are considered luxury items which include packaged food, household items, furniture, beauty products and automobiles, and different type of liquor imports in a circular order written by the Ministry of Finance to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) on October 14, 2022.

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.

Coffee is Ethiopia’s main export commodity, contributing to the livelihoods of more than 15 million smallholder farmers and other actors in the coffee sector. Ethiopia’s coffee production for MY 2022/23 (Oct-Sep) is forecast at 8.25 million 60-kilogram bags (495,000 MT).

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.