In Costa Rica, since the early 1980s, government policies have focused on trade liberalization, export promotion, and foreign direct investment. This path led us to develop one of the most successful free trade zone (FTZ) regimes in Latin America and, arguably, in the world, which, after more than 30 years, has become the cornerstone of the national economy.
In this context, Law 7210 (Free Trade Zone Regime Law), enacted in the late 1990s, gave a boost to the manufacturing industry (processing of goods) and promoted the emergence of many service companies.
Although hundreds of manufacturing companies established themselves in the country in the first two decades, logistics services remained lagging and anchored in traditional warehousing and logistics models, such as bonded warehouses. Furthermore, logistics services were not covered under the umbrella of the free trade zone regime. This imbalance, sooner or later, would be resolved, as the growth of manufacturing companies must necessarily be accompanied by a modernization of logistics services and the emergence of a vigorous and modern logistics cluster.
Fortunately, in the last decade, there have been important regulatory changes that have allowed Logistics Service Companies, known as "SEL Companies," to operate under the Free Trade Zone Regime. SELs are companies dedicated to providing comprehensive logistics services, such as inventory planning, control, and management; as well as selection, packing, packaging, fractionation, invoicing, labeling, unpacking, division, classification, repackaging, repacking, rebranding, grouping, and distribution of goods.
The first reform, motivated by visionaries from the public and private sectors, occurred in July 2011 (DE 36725-COMEX-H) and aimed to add a chapter to the current regulations governing SELs. Faced with the urgent need to modernize the logistics sector, several pioneering companies became the first SELs between 2012 and 2018. Despite bureaucratic obstacles, cumbersome procedures, and limitations in public management, which have impeded the further development of SELs, seven years later, in November 2018, DE 41263-COMEX-H was published to clarify, organize, and update the SEL regulations.
Almost four years after this latest regulatory reform, and practically eleven years after the birth of the SELs, there are still obstacles and pending tasks that state institutions have not been able to address more quickly, for example, the modernization of customs procedures, the connection of companies' inventory systems with the TICA information system, the elimination of unnecessary Technical Notes (permits or authorizations), the possibility of distributing merchandise from the SELs destined for the Golfito Free Trade Warehouse and the IMAS Stores, among others.
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