The Central American economic integration process is long-standing, formalized in the 1960s with one objective in mind among the countries that are part of the process –Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and later, Panama-, to facilitate trade in goods between countries through integration of countries that goes beyond a free trade zone, and is moving towards a common market.
The General Integration Treaty Economic has been approved by countries since the sixties, identifying the need to reduce non-tariff barriers that affect trade between countries, including health records. This is how this Treaty includes in its article 1 that:
The States Contracting parties agree to establish a common market between them which shall remain perfected within a maximum period of five years from the date of entry into force of this Treaty. They also undertake to form a union customs between its territories.
The countries later complemented this provision through the 1993 Guatemala Protocol, which establishes in its Article 15 that:
The Member States undertake to establish a Customs Union between their territories, with the aim of providing freedom of transit for goods regardless of their origin, subject to the nationalization of products from third countries in one of the Member States. This Customs Union will be achieved gradually and progressively, based on programs to be established for this purpose and approved by consensus.
And with this objective in mind, it is reinforced in Article 26 of the same Protocol that “States Parties undertake to harmonize and adopt common technical standards and regulations market that will be directed solely at meeting the requirements for the protection of human, animal and plant health, the environment, safety and compliance with minimum quality standards.”
With this legal basis, the Central American countries begin a process of negotiation and approval of Central American technical regulations known as "RTCA”, through which they harmonize the technical specifications that will be required by countries for their entry, sanitary registration, and subsequent commercialization, for goods such as processed foods, medicines for human use, cosmetics, hygiene products, household pesticides, pet food, veterinary products, among others.
In the process of developing the RTCA in the 2000s, questions arose in the countries about the scope of the RTCA in relation to their internal regulations and legislation, which is why a thorough review of the regional legal framework, known as Central American Community Law which constitutes a normative body whose application and enforcement in the countries is mandatory in light of the regional legal framework, which was approved by the congresses of the countries, including Costa Rica.
It is important to note that the Central American countries are part of the General Treaty of Central American Economic Integration and its protocols, signed and approved by Congress, which reaffirms Central American Community Law and is fundamental to the Principle of Administrative Legality.
The RTCAs are approved through resolutions signed by the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration (COMIECO), which has the legal authority to approve administrative acts of the Central American Economic Integration Subsystem (Article 38 of the Protocol). These acts are binding on the countries and enter into force on the date established by the resolution. The Guatemala Protocol states:
Article 55
1. The administrative acts of the Economic Integration Subsystem shall be expressed in Resolutions, Regulations, Agreements and Recommendations.
2. Resolutions are the mandatory acts through which the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration adopts decisions regarding internal matters of the Subsystem, such as those relating to the functioning of the bodies and the monitoring of institutional policies for economic integration.
(…)
6. The Resolutions, Regulations, and Agreements shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SGSICA) and shall enter into force on the date they are adopted, unless otherwise specified. (…) (emphasis not in the original)
This commitment was made by the Central American countries since they joined the TGIEC, and they must comply with Central American community regulations and their implementation by the established date.
Furthermore, the RTCA, being a right derived from the TGIEC, has hierarchical superiority over national laws and other regulations such as executive, ministerial, and other decrees, as it has the status of an international agreement supported by the TGIEC.
Pursuant to the above, the Central American Technical Regulations (RTCA), approved by the Central American countries through a COMIECO resolution, are binding and have legal precedence over the national laws of the Central American countries, including Costa Rica.
On this aspect, in the particular case of Costa Rica, it is important to bring to mind what was indicated by the Constitutional Court in its Vote No. 4638-96 at nine hours three minutes on September 6, 1996, on the immediate applicability, direct effect and supremacy of Central American Community Law (COMIECO resolutions) when stating:
…II.- Characteristics of Community Law: Doctrinally, it is defined as an organized and structured set of legal norms, with its own sources and appropriate bodies and procedures for issuing, interpreting, applying, and enforcing them. While international law promotes international cooperation, Community Law promotes the integration of the countries involved. Therefore, it has been said that it constitutes a new legal order of international law, characterized by its independence and primacy, characteristics inherent to its existence.
Community law has a great penetration into the internal legal order of the Member States, which is manifested in the immediate applicability, his direct effect and his primacyThe Community constitutes a new international legal order, for the benefit of which the member states have limited, albeit narrowly, their sovereign rights. Community law gives rise to rights and obligations, not only for the member states but also for their citizens. It is precisely because of the importance of the regulations that are intended to be approved - which, as indicated, may transfer powers - that it is desirable for specialists in the field to analyze, prior to the signing of the treaties that are intended to be subscribed to in this field, the scope and compatibility of these instruments with the internal order and system... Without a doubt, the core of integration are the treaties, which can be of two types: those of an institutional nature, which articulate and structure the system and its institutions, and those that develop them in a uniform, clear, concrete manner and which usually contain the regulations in which the States transfer powers to the community organization, for the fulfillment of the purposes that are of interest to them... Consequently, it is important to note that all the regulations approved in the integration process constitute an authentic legal system, which, by its nature and the purposes it pursues, falls within what has been defined as Community Law. (emphasis not in the original)
In accordance with the above, and given that the regional legal instruments give COMIECO powers for its actions, it is correct to conclude that the administrative acts emanating from COMIECO are valid and effective in the Costa Rican legal system, they have IMMEDIATE APPLICABILITY, DIRECT EFFECT AND PRIMACY, since they arise from a competence derived from the General Treaty of Central American Economic Integration and its Protocols, which was duly approved by the country's Legislative Assembly.
It is even relevant to mention that the General Law of Public Administration recognizes this legal status in its article 6, which establishes that:
1. The hierarchy of the sources of the administrative legal system shall be subject to the following order:
a) The Political Constitution;
b) International treaties and regulations of the Central American Community;
c) Laws and other acts with the force of law;
d) The decrees of the Executive Branch that regulate the laws, those of the other Supreme Branches in the matter of their competence;
e) Other regulations of the Executive Branch, the statutes and regulations of decentralized entities; and
f) Other rules subordinate to central and decentralized regulations. (…) (emphasis not in the original).
For all countries of Central America, the economic integration scheme continues to be an opportunity to increase trade in goods by simplifying exchange processes, but it also represents a responsibility for the governments of the countries to respect and fulfill the commitments assumed in Central American Community Law, in a serious and forceful manner in favor of the rule of law.
Status of COMIECO Resolution No. 483-2023
According to the legal analysis conducted, COMIECO Resolution No. 483-2023, which approves the reform to the RTCA Registry of Processed Foods. Procedure for the granting, renewal, and modification of the Sanitary Registry, entered into force on August 5, 2024, as established by the COMIECO resolution itself. This entry into force is not affected by its publication or non-publication.
Since that date, compliance with the new RTCA Food Registry is mandatory in all countries, including Costa Rica, which has not yet published this resolution, thus violating its legal obligation under Central American Community Law.
It must be remembered that the State is covered by the Principle of Administrative Legality Therefore, it can only do what is expressly permitted, which is why, in terms of sanitary registration of processed foods, it is limited to what is established in the RTCA approved by COMIECO Resolution No. 483-2023.
In a responsible and professional manner, and in compliance with regional commitments, Costa Rica must fully implement the RTCA Processed Food Registry approved in COMIECO Resolution No. 483-2023, as is legally appropriate and appropriate within the framework of Central American Community Law.