{"id":508735,"date":"2026-05-27T17:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/panama-opens-the-door-to-dialogue-with-costa-rica-but-demands-the-same-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T17:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:39:00","slug":"panama-opens-the-door-to-dialogue-with-costa-rica-but-demands-the-same-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/panama-opens-the-door-to-dialogue-with-costa-rica-but-demands-the-same-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Panama opens the door to dialogue with Costa Rica, but demands “the same rules”"},"content":{"rendered":"Panama is willing to sit down to talk with Costa Rica, but only under “the same rules” and on equal terms for both countries<\/strong>.\n\n\n

<\/a>This was stated by the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Julio Molt\u00f3, amid the new diplomatic attempt to\u00a0reduce bilateral tensions that<\/strong>\u00a0have escalated around trade, phytosanitary controls and the\u00a0restrictions imposed on Panamanian products<\/strong> during the last few months.<\/p>\n\n\n“Costa Rica is a brother country,” Molt\u00f3 declared, referring to the recent meeting held in New<\/strong> York between Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha V\u00e1squez and the new Costa Rican Foreign Minister, Manuel Tovar. The Panamanian minister assured that the meeting was<\/strong> “very warm” and allowed for discussion on various topics of the bilateral relationship.\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cDefinitely, once again, we are friendly countries and\u00a0we are always willing to talk under<\/strong>\u00a0the same conditions, taking care of the Panamanian producer, as\u00a0deserves the same respect as the<\/strong>\u00a0Costa Rican producer\u201d, expressed the head of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.<\/p>\n\n\nMolt\u00f3’s statements come at a time when Panama and Costa Rica are trying to rebuild<\/strong> channels of dialogue after weeks marked by political and commercial tensions.<\/a>\n\nPoultry, meat, and agro-industrial products are among the main sectors affected by trade and phytosanitary restrictions between Panama and Costa Rica. File\n\n\n

We recommend reading<\/p>\n\n\nOne of the main points of conflict has been precisely the commercial exchange and sanitary restrictions<\/strong>. Panama maintains that national producers have faced obstacles for years to export poultry, meat and agro-industrial products to Costa Rica, despite meeting international standards and<\/strong> exporting to highly demanding markets such as the United States, Europe and Asia.\n\n“Panamanian producers, as well as Costa Rican producers, must comply with the same phytosanitary rules<\/strong>,” Molt\u00f3 stated. The official insisted that Panama will not reduce its health controls nor<\/strong> compromise its quality standards to facilitate the entry of goods.\n\n“Panama is not going to sacrifice its phytosanitary, sanitary, and health standards,” the minister stated. He added that the producing plants of both countries<\/strong> must undergo “the same revisions” and meet identical technical requirements<\/strong>.\n\nThe trade conflict even reached the World Trade Organization (WTO), where<\/strong> a process related to the restrictions and trade barriers applied between both nations remains open. Minister Julio Molt\u00f3 assured that Panama is willing to dialogue with Costa Rica under “the same rules”. Taken from the MICI\n\nTensions escalated with the arrival to power of the Costa Rican President Laura Fern\u00e1ndez, who hardened<\/strong> the discourse against Panama and assured that she will defend the producers of her country against what she considers unjustified restrictions for the<\/strong> entry of Costa Rican goods.\n\nFern\u00e1ndez recently moved the conflict to the Costa Rican Chancellery and announced diplomatic and international actions related<\/strong> to the trade dispute. He also stated that he will not allow “any imbalance in the commercialization and export of Costa Rican products.”\n\n\u201cI have always said, under equal rules for both parties and opportunities that arise, both for Panamanian producers who have already been<\/strong> exporting to Costa Rica for many decades, and the opportunities to complement each other as nations<\/strong>,\u201d he pointed out.\n\nThe minister also recalled that Panama maintains an intense economic relationship with Costa Rica and the rest of Central America, including energy exports and<\/strong> constant regional trade. Foreign Ministers Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha and Manuel Tovar held a meeting in New York to reduce bilateral tensions. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship\n\n\n

The recent meeting between Foreign Ministers Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha and Manuel Tovar at the United Nations headquarters was interpreted<\/strong> as a sign of diplomatic rapprochement after several months of public confrontation. Both governments agreed to promote binational working groups to<\/strong> address issues related to security, migration, trade, and customs.<\/p>\n\n\nAccording to the information released by both foreign ministries, the objective is to build “a constructive dialogue” that allows addressing common challenges and avoiding a further escalation in bilateral differences.\n\nDespite the tensions, Molt\u00f3 insisted that Panama maintains a willingness to dialogue as long as there is reciprocity.<\/strong>\n\n“I am sure that as brother countries at a table we can find a solution,” the minister affirmed, who reiterated that the country will continue to defend its phytosanitary controls and the right of Panamanian producers to compete on equal terms","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panama is willing to sit down to talk with Costa Rica, but only under “the same rules” and on equal terms for both countries. This was stated by the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Julio Molt\u00f3, amid the new diplomatic attempt to\u00a0reduce bilateral tensions that\u00a0have escalated around trade, phytosanitary controls and the\u00a0restrictions imposed on Panamanian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-28lp","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yerandi Santana","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-5.35.07-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}