According to Art. 111 bis of Law No. 7.557 on General Customs, introduced in June 2022 by Art. 1.8 of Law No. 10271, the importation of goods whose total value does not exceed the threshold of 100 Central American pesos (equivalent to USD 100) are exempt from import duties. This threshold is lower than the USD 200 threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Law No. 7472 and its accompanying Regulations establish a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that extends to transactions conducted online.

Costa Rica has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Costa Rica has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Costa Rica has enacted national legislation based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures, namely Law No. 8454 on Certificates, Digital Signatures and Electronic Documents.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Costa Rica's law and jurisprudence. The safe harbour regime found in Executive Decree No. 36.880 only applies to intermediary liability related to copyright infringement. Therefore, the country lacks a safe harbour regime that goes beyond copyright infringement.

Pursuant to Art. 72 of SUTEL’s End-User Protection Scheme Regulations (RPUF), SUTEL must make available to end-users and operators/providers a platform for the registration and updating of information concerning prepaid end-users, known as the Prepaid Register. This platform enables the verification of the identity of prepaid service users before they are allowed to make calls other than those required to complete the registration process.
Before making calls outside the registration platform, prepaid end-users must register, at a minimum, their assigned telephone number and the following information:
- full name;
- valid identity card, equivalent identification document or, in the case of foreign nationals, passport;
- place of residence; and
- email address.
For legal entities, registration must include the legal registration number and the full name or business name, together with the details of the legal representative or authorised agent. In addition, Art. 11.27 of the Act requires telecommunications operators and service providers to verify the authenticity of customers’ identification details and supporting documents, and to duly record this information at the time of subscription or service provision.
This regime is further complemented by the General Regulations for Data Update of Prepayment Mobile Users, which remain in force as the implementing rules for the prepaid-user registration and data-update mechanism originally established under the 2010 Regulation on the Regime for the Protection of the End User of Telecommunications Services, now repealed and replaced by the RPUF. Under these implementing regulations, users of prepaid mobile subscriptions must validate their identity, while mobile network operators must collect and record users’ personal information and proof-of-identity documentation. It has also been reported that operators may be required to share, upon request, full or partial prepaid-user registration profiles with the government.

Under recital XVI and point 1 of Resolution DGA-368-2009, imports of used or inoperative electronic equipment covered by the specified tariff lines require prior authorisation under Technical Note No. 269. The measure applies to ICT products including printers and multifunction machines, laptops and other data-processing equipment, mobile phones, data transmission equipment, digital cameras, monitors, personal digital assistants, and projectors.

Under recital XVI and point 1 of Resolution DGA-368-2009, exports of used or inoperative electronic equipment covered by the specified tariff lines require prior authorisation under Technical Note No. 269. The measure applies to ICT products including printers and multifunction machines, laptops and other data-processing equipment, mobile phones, data transmission equipment, digital cameras, monitors, personal digital assistants, and projectors.

Costa Rica has adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Law No. 7.975 and its Regulations (Executive Decree No. 34927-J-COMEX-S-MAG) provide a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end users. Moreover, passive infrastructure sharing is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements. The "Regulation on Infrastructure Sharing for the Support of Public Telecommunication Networks" regulates the sharing of infrastructure for public telecommunications networks in Costa Rica.

Under Art. 15 of Law No. 7.789, foreign participation in public or private telecommunications companies entering into joint ventures with the state-owned Heredia Public Services Company (ESPH) is limited to 49% of the capital stock. In addition, Art. 5 of Law No. 8.660 on the Strengthening and Modernization of Public Entities in the Telecommunications Sector requires the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), which operates in the telecommunications sector, to retain at least 51% of the share capital of any company it constitutes or acquires. The same provision further establishes that the sale of shares in any ICE company must be authorised by a special law.

The government holds equity stakes in several telecommunications companies, notably the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the Municipal Electricity Service Administrative Board of Cartago (JASEC), and the Heredia Public Services Company (ESPH). The ICE was established pursuant to Law No. 449.

It is reported that Costa Rica requires both functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecommunications sector and accounting separation across services; however, no specific legal provision establishing the obligation of functional separation has been identified. By contrast, the legal basis for accounting separation is explicit: Art. 75.b.ii of Law No. 7593 empowers the Telecommunications Superintendence (Sutel) to impose obligations on major operators and service providers, including the requirement to maintain distinct cost accounts for each service in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework.