Q COSTA RICA — With the aim of increasing transparency and traceability of goods in transit, the Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance) has opened a public consultation on a project to strengthen controls on the entry of goods.
The main goal is to eliminate the smuggling business and curb tax evasion, as the control model will be based on more detailed cargo information, according to Hacienda
Essentially, it involves “substantial changes to the Declaración Única Aduanera (DUA)—Single Customs Declaration—for the Transit Regime.”
“Currently, when cargo is transferred to a customs warehouse, the transit declaration can be made using generic descriptions, without the obligation to identify all consignees or the individual value of the goods being transported. Under this system, control in customs warehouses is based primarily on the total number of packages moved, which limits the capacity for preventive oversight and creates opacity in customs management,” explained Adrián Pérez Edwards, Director General of Customs.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposes the following changes:
- Greater certainty and availability of information by precisely identifying the type of merchandise entering the country, its commercial value, and its consignees.
- Reduction of customs fraud and the concealment of goods by using a control model based on more detailed cargo information.
- Strengthening preventive and automated risk analysis by facilitating the early and targeted detection of operational inconsistencies, without disrupting the normal operations of companies that comply with regulations.
- Improving controls over goods subject to sanitary requirements or other special regulations, which will facilitate more effective oversight.
Interested parties may submit their written comments to valverdemd@hacienda.go.cr and urenasl@hacienda.go.cr, from July 13, 2026, to July 24, 2026, inclusive.
The full text of the proposal can be found at the following link: https://www.hacienda.go.cr/ProyectosConsultaPublica.html