Costa Rica is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2015.

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) is a fully state-owned enterprise and acquisition of shares need to be approved through special laws.

Moreover, according to Art. 15 of Law No. 7789, foreign participation in public or private telecommunication companies entering into joint ventures with the state-owned Heredia Public Services Company (ESPH) is limited to a maximum of 49% of the capital stock.

There are some reports of worries regarding the implementation of the General Public Procurement Law No. 9,986. First, the law introduces within its provisions the fines for reckless appeals (among other procedural remedies), a pecuniary sanction not contemplated in the Administrative Contracting Law, the purpose of which is to try to dissuade those who file a reckless objection, revocation, or appeal appeals, in bad faith or in abuse of procedural rights, in order to discourage dilatory practices that affect the public interest. Yet, there are concerns that there is a degree of subjectivity as the administration assesses which procedural remedies presented against it are considered reckless under Art. 93.
Secondly, there are concerns about the rigid informatic system for filing procedural remedies. The Law establishes that for the filling of a procedural resource against the administration in public procurement, this must be carried out electronically (Art. 95).
Lastly, according to Art. 103, contractors or bidders must verify their compliance with the legality of the public procurement process. This verification is reported to be burdensome for bidders and it has been argued that it does not follow the principle of legitimate reliance in the administration (in that the public administration should exercise the power of its own acts and invalidate those that are illegal).

Some foreign companies have indicated that the private sector is sometimes disadvantaged in public bids when competing against Costa Rican state-owned enterprises in the ICT sector. Certain purchases are made directly from suppliers that have been pre-qualified and pre-registered with government entities and, in general, public procurement still lacks transparency. There are plans to migrate the system, making SICOP ("Sistema Integrado de Compras Públicas") the primary platform used for public procurement; but it is unclear when, or if, this complete system migration will occur.

Art. 2 of the Public Contracting Law allows for the non-competitive awarding of contracts to public entities (also termed “direct purchase”) if officials of the awarding entity certify the award to be an efficient use of public funds. The Information and Telecommunications Business Chamber (CAMTIC) has been advocating against what its members feel to be unfair use by government entities of this article. Telecoms and technology sector companies have called attention to the fact that government agencies often choose state-owned enterprises as their telecom services providers despite the availability of private sector telecom companies. Starting from December 2022, the Public Contracting Law No. 7,494 has been replaced by the General Public Procurement Law No. 9,986, which does not contain this provision.

Costa Rica is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 and its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Colombia has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Colombia has signed but not ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Colombia has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Law No. 1,480 provides a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that also applies to online transactions.

According to Art. 4 of Resolution No. 3,596 in the case of sales made through the Internet (virtual payment), airlines and travel agencies may charge an administrative fee different from the fees enshrined in the Resolution, provided that they inform the fee and the sales conditions to the aeronautical authority. This rule provides a different regime for online payments in the aeronautical realm and it has been suggested that this may hamper purchases online.

Decree No. 1,090 implements the de minimis value threshold provisions agreed in the United States–Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement establishing that shipments made under the modality of sending postal traffic and urgent shipments for a value less than or equal to USD 200 do not pay any duty (Art. 1 of this Decree modified Art. 261 of Decree No. 1,165). Yet, following Art. 53 of Law No. 2,155, this regime only applies to goods from countries with which Colombia has a free trade agreement including de minimis commitments and only if the goods are not for commercial purposes.

According to Art. 91 of Law No. 633, any webpage of Colombian origin that dedicates its activity to e-commerce must be registered in the commercial registry and provide the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) with information of economic transactions.

Section 9 of Decree No. 1,595 regulates the conformity assessment procedure. There is mandatory certification of cellular devices.
According to Art. 2.2.1.7.9.2 of the Decree, the country accepts a Self-Declaration of Conformity (SDoC). However, a testing laboratory recognized by the regulator ICONTEC (“Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación”) must test the equipment and the supplier must register the equipment with the regulator.
Circular No. 060 deals with safety levels regarding human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, and lists the following products to be homologated: Fixed-wireline desktop and wall-mounted, Cellular-mobile, Cellular-fixed, PCS-mobile, PCS-fixed, Dual-Cellular PCS, Satellite.