Costa Rica Fires Minister Over Pacific Pact

San Jose, October 28 - Costa Rica has ended its pursuit to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a major trans-Pacific trade agreement, and removed the country's foreign trade minister, President Laura Fernandez announced on Wednesday. The dismissal of Foreign Trade Minister Indiana Trejos, who served as a deputy minister during the previous administration, was attributed to a lack of transparency, according to Fernandez.

President Fernandez did not disclose who would take Trejos' place. The decision to abandon the application followed protests from Costa Rica's producer groups, particularly in the agriculture sector. The CPTPP is a free trade bloc comprising 12 nations across the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Europe, representing nearly 15% of global Gross Domestic Product.

"Although it might appear to be an excellent opportunity, its complete content was kept confidential by the negotiators, leaving almost no one aware of what it entails," Fernandez stated in a video shared on social media. Costa Rica initially submitted a request to join the CPTPP in 2022 and engaged in over 100 high-level meetings to reach a consensus among members.

In November 2024, the bloc formally extended an invitation to Costa Rica to become a part of the CPTPP. Since then, the Central American country has been reviewing its regulations against the agreement's rules and negotiating market access for goods and services. The CPTPP officially came into effect in 2018 as a successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, following the United States' withdrawal from that proposed trade bloc.