Costa Rica joins CAFTA, regional free trade pact

Costa Rica joins CAFTA, regional free trade pact    Costa Rica agreed Jan. 25 to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement, after prolonged negotiations over a U.S. demand that Costa Rica open up its insurance and telecommunications markets.
   CAFTA’s other members include El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Costa Rica is the wealthiest of the five countries.
   “With each Central American nation, we worked to tailor market access provisions to reflect individual circumstances,” said Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative.
   Zoellick began discussions earlier in January with the region’s remaining holdout, the Dominican Republic.
   In a compromise worked out during a month of wrangling after the first four nations joined CAFTA, Costa Rica finally agreed to a gradual opening of its entire insurance market and of three prime portions of its
telecommunications industry.
   If Congress approves CAFTA, at least 80 percent of U.S. exports to the five countries will become duty free immediately.