Costa Rica - National Approach on Materials and Equipment Used in Illicit Drug Manufacture
In Costa Rica, the import, export, distribution and manufacture of tableting and encapsulating machines, and its accessories (as punch and dyes), used for the manufacture of narcotics and psychotropic drugs, as well as others with similar effects, are controlled under Law 8204 (Article 36). Specifically, the Regulations of the Law 8204 (Article 121) requires that any company which domestically trades or distributes, imports, exports, re-exports, or disposes of the aforementioned equipment and accessories, must be registered with the Precursor Control and Inspection Unit of the ICD. In addition, import/export authorizations are required for each piece of regulated equipment that it is intended to be imported or exported by the country. Subsequently, companies are obligated to send an annual report on the movements of the equipment (inventory control) to the Precursor Control and Supervision Unit of the ICD.
Law 8204 (Articles 71 to 75) establishes penalties related to controlled equipment.
Cooperation with industry is in place, with the Professional College of Pharmacists carrying out an information and awareness raising raising-public-awareness campaign which allowed increased control over the sale of second-hand controlled equipment. In addition, cooperation has been established with a courier company to generate risk profiles associated with the shipment of controlled equipment or parts of equipment.
Sources: Law 8204 and Regulation N° 36948-MP-SP-JP-H-S