APPENDIX 1 TO ANNEX V
COSTA RICA - SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
EXPLANATORY NOTES
1. For the purpose of this Schedule, the term “none” indicates a services sector or sub-sector where there are no terms, limitations and conditions
on market access or conditions and qualifications on national treatment. The term “unbound” indicates that no national treatment or market
access commitments have been made.
2. The absence of specific reservations in a given services sector or sub-sector is without prejudice to the horizontal reservations that apply.
3. Services sectors or subsectors not mentioned in the list below are not committed.
4. The level of commitments in a particular services sector shall not supersede the level of commitments undertaken with respect to any other
services sector to which such service is an input for the particular service or to which it is otherwise related.
5. The list below does not include measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements
(including any concession, permit, register and other authorisation) and procedures when they do not constitute market access or national
treatment limitations, conditions and qualifications within the meaning of Articles 3.5 (Market Access) and 3.6 (National Treatment). Such
measures (for example, need to obtain a licence, universal service obligations, need to obtain recognition of qualifications in regulated sectors,
need to pass specific examinations, including language examinations, non-discriminatory requirements that certain services may not be carried
out in environmental protected zones or areas of particular historic and artistic interest), even if not listed, apply in any case to services and
services suppliers of another Party.
6. CPC numbers indicated in parenthesis in the “Sector or subsector” column are references to the United Nations Provisional Central Product
Classification (Statistical Papers, Series M, N° 77, Provisional Central Product Classification, Department of International Economics and
Social Affairs, Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1991), except as otherwise indicated.
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Modes of supply:1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence of natural persons
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional
Commitments
I. HORIZONTAL COMMITMENTS
This Part sets out the commitments that apply to trade in services in all scheduled services sectors unless otherwise specified. The
commitments that apply to trade in specific services sectors are listed in Part II (SECTOR-SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS).
ALL SECTORS AND SUBSECTORS INCLUDED IN THIS SCHEDULE
1. The obligation under paragraph 5 of Article 3.10 (Domestic Regulation) to comply with the criteria outlined in subparagraph 4(b) of that
Article shall not apply to Costa Rica.
2. Treatment accorded to subsidiaries of juridical persons of another Party constituted in accordance with the Costa Rican legislation and
having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the territory of Costa Rica is not extended to
branches, agencies or representative offices established in the territory of Costa Rica by a juridical person of another Party.
Treatment less favorable may be accorded to subsidiaries of a juridical person of another Party constituted in accordance with the Costa
Rican legislation, which have only their registered office or central administration in the territory of Costa Rica; unless it can be proved
that they maintain substantive business operations in the territory of Costa Rica.
3. Associations located abroad that would like to act in Costa Rica are obliged to constitute and maintain in the country a power of attorney;
likewise, foreign juridical persons that have or want to open branches in the territory of Costa Rica are obliged to constitute and maintain
in the country a power of attorney for the branch’s business.
4. Shall not be permanently removed from State ownership any power that may be obtained from public waters within the national territory;
deposits of coal, wells and deposits of oil and any other hydrocarbons, as well as any deposits of radioactive minerals existing within the
national territory; and wireless services. They may be exploited only by the public administration or by private parties, in accordance with
the law or under a special concession granted for a limited time and on the basis of conditions and stipulations to be established by the
Legislative Assembly.
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Modes of supply:1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence of natural persons
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional
Commitments
5. The State exercises complete and exclusive sovereignty over its territorial waters within a distance of 12 miles measured from the lowtide
mark along its shores, over its continental shelf, and its insular undersea base, in accordance with principles of international law. It
also exercises special jurisdiction over the seas adjacent to its territory within a distance of two hundred miles measured from the same
mark, in order to protect, preserve, and exploit exclusively all the natural resources and wealth existing in the waters, soil, and subsoil of
those zones, in accordance with those principles.
6. National railroads, ports, and airports – the latter while in use – may not be sold, leased or encumbered, directly or indirectly, or be
otherwise removed from State ownership and control. The railroads, railways, docks and international airports, new or existing, as well
as the services there supplied, shall only be granted in concession through the stipulated proceedings in the national legislation. In the
case of Limón, Moín, Caldera and Puntarenas ports shall only be given in concession the new works or the additions that are being done,
not the existing ones. All enterprises holding railroads, ports or airports concessions must be constituted under Costa Rican legislation
and domiciled in Costa Rica.
7. For concessions of public works contracts and the concessions of public works with public services contracts defined in accordance with
the Costa Rican legislation, in case of a tie in the selection parameters in conformity with the notice rules, the Costa Rican tenderer shall
be awarded the contract over the foreigner. The adjudicatory stays obliged to constitute a national anonymous society with which the
concession’s contract shall be concluded. Also, it shall be jointly responsible with this anonymous society.
8. Services considered as public services1, as defined and regulated in its national laws and regulations, may be subject to a public monopoly
or to exclusive rights granted to natural persons or juridical persons, public or private. To be a public service supplier the respective
concession or permit shall be obtained from the competent public entity. Are excluded from this obligation the institutions and public
enterprises that, as a legal mandate, supply any of these services. The suppliers shall not have any monopolistic right over a public service
1 Public services include: electric energy supply, including generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization; supply of sewage and water services which
includes drinkable water, collection, treatment and evacuation of sewage, residual and pluvial waters, as well as the installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrant services;
fuel supply derivatives from hydrocarbons, including petroleum, asphalts, gas and naphthas, destined to supply national demand in distribution stations, as well as the derivatives
from petroleum, asphalts, gas and naphthas destined to the final consumer; irrigation and drainage; remunerated public transport of persons, except for air transportation;
maritime and air services in national ports; freight transport by railroad; recollection and treatment of solid and industrial wastes; social services of postal communication; and
any other services that, given their importance for the sustainable development of the country, are qualified and regulated as such by the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly.
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Modes of supply:1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence of natural persons
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional
Commitments
that they exploit and shall be subject to the limitations and changes imposed by the legislation. New concessions, permits or authorisations
shall be granted as long as the demand of services justifies it, or that those services could be offered in better conditions for the user.
Priority shall be given to the concessionaires that are supplying the service. State monopolies created by law or granted in administration,
are excluded from the above mentioned.
9. In accordance with the Costa Rican legislation, the investment of private capital in services reserved to the State is prohibited. If that
legislation is modified to allow the investment of private capital in such services, Costa Rica reserves the right to adopt or maintain
limitations on national treatment or market access with respect to foreign investment participation.
10. A concession is required to perform any type of development or activity in the maritime-terrestrial zone, as defined in the Costa Rican
legislation.2
A concession in the maritime terrestrial zone shall not be granted to or held by: (a) foreign nationals that have not resided in the country
for at least five years; (b) enterprises with bearer shares; (c) enterprises domiciled abroad; (d) enterprises incorporated in Costa Rica solely
by foreign nationals; or (e) enterprises where more than 50 percent of the capital shares or stocks are owned by foreigners.
Within the maritime-terrestrial zone, no concession may be granted within the first 50 meters counted from the high tide line nor in the
area comprised between the high tide line and the low tide line.
The entities or its partners that have concessions in the maritime terrestrial zone shall not yield or transfer quotas or shares to foreigners.
Only Costa Rican natural or juridical persons that may have concessions shall intervene in touristic developments in the maritimeterrestrial
zone or with access to it. Likewise, foreign entities shall intervene as long as they are tourism enterprises, whose development
capital belongs in more than 50 percent to Costa Ricans.
2 The maritime-terrestrial zone is the 200-meter strip located along the entire length of the Atlantic and Pacific coast lines of Costa Rica, measured horizontally from the
ordinary high tide line. The maritime-terrestrial zone also covers all islands located within the Costa Rican territorial waters.
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Modes of supply:1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence of natural persons
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional
Commitments
A concession may also be required to perform any type of development or activity in coastal urban zones, as defined in the Costa Rican
legislation.3 A concession in a coastal urban zone is subject to an urban regulatory plan and the conditions in Law No. 9221. Economic
needs tests may apply and priority will be given to concessionaires that already had a concession before the coastal urban zone was
declared as such and to occupants on a precarious basis (ocupantes a título precario).
A concession in the urban coastal zone shall not be granted to or held by: (a) foreign nationals that have not resided in the country for at
least five years; (b) foreign nationals with an irregular migratory status; (c) enterprises domiciled abroad; or (d) enterprises where more
than fifty percent of the capital shares or stocks are owned by foreigners. This percentage shall be maintained throughout the period of
the concession. Enterprises that hold concessions in coastal urban zones shall report any changes in the composition of their equity.
Excluding land that is under private domain and has legitimate title, all other land within the 2000 meters-wide zone which is alongside
Costa Rica’s borders with Nicaragua and Panama is inalienable and cannot be acquired by denuncio or possession. In case of natural
persons, a foreign national must have permanent resident status in Costa Rica, and prove it through a certification issued by the General
Directorate of Migration and Alien Affairs, to obtain a concession in these lands. A juridical person shall be domiciled in Costa Rica to
obtain a concession in these lands. Juridical persons, whose shares, stocks or capital belongs to foreign nationals in more than 50% may
not obtain a concession. Juridical persons whose members are more than 50% foreigners may not obtain a concession. In case of juridical
persons whose capital is owned by foreign nationals, they shall demonstrate that these natural persons have permanent resident status in
Costa Rica, and prove it through a certification issued by the General Directorate of Migration and Alien Affairs.
11. Enterprises established in the Free Zone Regime under the category of Export Processing Industries that produce, process or assemble for
export or re-export, may introduce into the national customs territory up to 25 percent of their total sales.
A non-producer exporter commercial enterprise, established in the Free Zone in Costa Rica that simply handles, re-packs or redistributes
non-traditional goods and products for exportation or re-exportation, cannot introduce any percentage of its total sales into Costa Rica’s
customs territory.
3 A coastal urban zone is a territory in the coast, also considered as an urban area, and previously declared as coastal urban area by the competent authorities.
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Modes of supply:1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence of natural persons
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional
Commitments
12. Only the professional services suppliers duly incorporated to the respective professional association in Costa Rica are authorised to
practice the profession in the Costa Rican territory, including advisory and consulting. Incorporation is subject to nationality and residency
requirements at the time of applying for membership. In some cases, the hiring of foreign professional services suppliers on behalf of
State or private institutions can only happen when there are no Costa Rican professional services suppliers willing to supply the service
in the required conditions, or under the declaration of inopia.
13. Costa Rica reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure:
(a) that grants rights or preferences to social or economic groups under disadvantage or to native groups; or
(b) with respect to the provision of law enforcement and correctional services, and the following services to the extent they are social
services established or maintained for a public purpose: income security or insurance, social security or insurance, social welfare,
public education, public training, health, child care, public sewage services, and water supply services.
14. With respect to services included in this Schedule, any market access and national treatment limitations maintained at local governments’
level are consolidated; nevertheless such limitations are not scheduled.
15. Costa Rica reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure with respect to subsidies or grants it provides, including governmentsupported
loans, guarantees, and insurance.