Costa Rica's General Directorate of Customs (Dirección General de Aduanas – DGA) and the Ministry of Finance have recently issued several resolutions and a circular introducing changes affecting customs public service auxiliaries, customs warehouses, international carriers, and other international trade operators.
These measures establish new customs control obligations, provide guidance on document retention and disposal, implement operational updates for international road transport, and revise the interest rate applicable to tax and customs obligations.
Customs authority access to customs warehouse CCTV systems
Through Resolution MH-DGA-RES-0889-2026, the DGA established a specific obligation for customs warehouses to grant the National Customs Service local or remote access to the closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems installed at their facilities.
The measure is intended to strengthen customs control, enforcement, and risk management by allowing the customs authority, where appropriate, to access both live video feeds and recorded footage in support of inspections, physical examinations, and other customs control activities.
New guidelines for the disposal of customs records
Resolution MH-DGA-RES-0894-2026 establishes the framework governing the destruction or disposal of customs records maintained by customs public service auxiliaries and other obligated parties once the statutory retention period has expired.
The resolution clarifies that records may only be destroyed when there are no pending administrative or judicial proceedings, no special legal regimes requiring longer retention periods, and no outstanding tax incentives or exemptions. It also establishes requirements for the secure disposal of both physical and electronic records, as well as the obligation to formally document each disposal process through certificates or official records that ensure traceability.
Regional integration for driver validation in DUCA T
Through Circular MH-DGA-CIR-016-2026, the DGA announced that the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) has implemented mandatory driver validation through the regional PDCC database.
As a result, driver information may no longer be entered manually in the DUCA T Capture Portal. Instead, drivers must be previously registered and their information kept up to date in the regional database through the TICA system.
New interest rate for tax and customs obligations
Finally, through Joint Resolution MH-DGH-RES-0033-2026/MH-DGA-RES-0897-2026, the Ministry of Finance established an 8.41% interest rate applicable to both tax and customs obligations, replacing the previous 8.52% rate.
The new rate became effective on July 1, 2026, and applies both to interest payable by taxpayers and to interest payable by the Tax Administration, including the cases provided for under the General Customs Law.
