Costa Rica has witnessed an interesting economic transition since the early 1990s, with more efforts being directed at making the country an attractive destination for tourists and a lucrative investment opportunity for foreign hi-tech firms following many years of focus originally on the production of bananas and coffee and, later, in textile drawback operations.

Several key sectors are still controlled by state monopolies, although some considerable political efforts have been made over the last 4 years or so to privatise as many sectors as possible. The latest and perhaps the most relevant effort, has been the liberalisation of the telecommunications market as a result of the Free Trade Agreement with the Caribbean and United States. Of course, the success of these privatisation efforts will have a direct impact on the role and standing of competition law and policy in Costa Rica, including the country’s mechanism for merger control.

Relevant legislation and statutory standards

Merger and acquisition activities are regulated under the Law on Promotion of Competition and Effective Defence of the Consumer1 (‘the Act’). The Act is supplemented by the Regulations of the Law on Promotion of Competition and Effective Defence of the Consumer2 (‘the Regulations’). In post-merger and acquisition situations, in which the right to private enforcement and the right to appeal arise, the provisions of the General Law of Public Administration3 and the Law for the Regulation of Jurisdiction on Administrative Law4 apply respectively (see below).