While various business sectors are trying to protect their interests from being affected, the governments involved want negotiations to proceed at an extremely fast pace.

The Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Trade seems to be deaf to the complaints of the agricultural and industrial sectors, opposed to the FTA with Colombia, and are pressing for negotiations to be speeded up.

The Government of Colombia also seems willing to close each negotiation session quickly, based on the fact that there are prior agreements in the texts under discussion.

Meanwhile Costa Rican businesses from the plastics industry want the entire sector to be excluded, arguing that because Colombia is an oil producer, Costa Rica is at a disadvantage in terms of access to and price of raw materials.

Regarding rice, Costa Rican businessmen indicate that differences in the quantities produced by each country, 2.4 million tonnes a year in Colombia and 200,000 annually in Costa Rica, mark the difficulty of reaching any agreement.