Costa Rica free trade a done deal

Vote this week can make
free trade a done deal


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


President Óscar Arias Sánchez will leave office with the free trade treaty with the United States completed.

The Sala IV constitutional court has given the green light to the 14th and final measure in the free trade package. That opened the door for lawmakers to consider the matter sometime this week. The Asamblea Legislativa already passed the measure on the first reading, but action was frozen when opponents asked for a high court review.

The measure covers intellectual property rights, including songs and other types of creative works. Part of the law establishes criminal penalties for infringement. There also are stiff fines for violation.

Arias spent nearly all his four-year term engineering passage of the free trade treaty. The pact got the nation's approval in an October 2007 referendum after a bitter campaign.

The United States pushed for an intellectual property section in the treaty because of the wholesale counterfeiting of music and movie CDs. The law that got the approval Tuesday implemented the concepts outlined in the free trade treaty and brought national law into conformity.

The United States has frozen some sugar import quotas until the final law gets approval.