Costa Rica will maintain its third country status with the European Union (EU), after the agency began an audit in 2016 to evaluate the system of accreditations of organic products of the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE).
This category allows the country to continue exporting organic products, such as bananas and pineapples that are certified by the SFE, to the member states of the EU.
In 2017, more than 16 million kilograms of organic vegetable products were exported to the EU.
Costa Rica's production and organic certification processes had not been reviewed, onsite, by the European authorities since the EU recognized Costa Rica as a third country in 2003.
Source: larepublica.net
