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.

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

Art. 23 of the General Law on Public Procurement promotes the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives. To support regional development, contracting authorities may allocate up to 10% of the total evaluation score to SMEs and cooperatives located in the relevant development region and employing mainly workers from that region.
Art. 14 of the Special Regulation for the Promotion of SMEs in Public Procurement also gives preference to nationally produced goods or services supplied by SMEs where competing offers are equivalent in quality, capacity, and price.
In addition, Art. 84 of the Law allows framework agreements for goods and services to be reserved exclusively for SMEs. Arts. 73 and 75 of Executive Decree No. 43808-H of 22 November 2022 similarly permit the National Public Procurement Plan to reserve specific procurement categories, including consolidated procedures and framework agreements, for exclusive competition among SMEs where market conditions allow. Eligibility requires recognition under Costa Rica’s domestic SME registration system, which foreign suppliers generally cannot obtain.

Art. 261 of Decree No. 1165 of 2019 stipulates that the de minimis threshold, the minimum value of goods below which customs duties are not levied, is set at USD 200.

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

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

Colombia enacted Law No. 527 of 1999, drawing upon the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Colombia enacted Decree No. 2,364 of 2012, drawing upon the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Under Arts. 4, 5 and 12–14 of Decree No. 925/2013, products imported under “special market conditions”, including used, imperfect, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, remanufactured, repowered, discontinued and second-hand goods, require a prior import licence. Applications are evaluated and decided by the Import Committee, while the competent authorities may require evidence of functionality, certified useful life, environmental impact or the contribution of the goods to Colombia’s technological development. The requirement applies horizontally and therefore covers computers, mobile phones, network equipment and other ICT goods when imported in any of those conditions. Under Art. 18, the National Registry of Domestic Producers may also be consulted in evaluating the application. Remanufactured goods covered by an applicable trade agreement are exempt where the agreement expressly provides that no licence is required and its conditions are met.

It is reported that Decree No. 2025/2015 creates burdensome restrictions and administrative requirements for trade in mobile phones. The Decree establishes measures to control the import and export of intelligent mobile phones, cellular mobile phones, and their parts, susceptible to classification under Customs Tariff subheading 8517.12.00.00 and 8517.70.00.00, as part of its strategy to address the theft of mobile phones.
In particular, the decree mandates that each mobile phone have a government-issued International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) verification certificate at the time of import and requires all importers and exporters to pre-register with the National Police in order to trade in mobile phones.
Chapter I of Decree No. 2025 establishes the import conditions of mobile phones. According to Art. 3, mobile phones whose IMEI is registered in the databases referred to in Art. 106 of No. Law 1,453 of 2011 may not be imported. But, importation is permitted if: (a) it is an IMEI reported in the positive database, (ii) in the case of import in compliance with a guarantee or (iii) the re-import of previously exported phones. Also, intelligent mobiles can be imported if the travellers carry them when entering the national territory as a personal possession (and no more than three units). Importation is also allowed under the modality of postal traffic and urgent shipments if it is just one mobile/intelligent phone that fulfils customs regulations."
Art. 1 of Decree No. 2,142 amended Art. 3 of Decree No. 2025/2015 (Chapter I), yet the conditions for importing mobile phones remain largely unchanged. While these restrictions predate the amendment, Decree No. 2,142 introduced a more lenient regime allowing the import under the modality of postal traffic and urgent shipments if it is just one mobile/intelligent phone that fulfils customs regulations.

It is reported that slow customs-clearance procedures in Colombia hamper both import and export activities. Earlier reports also identified significant delays in implementing customs reforms that would allow traders to submit electronic copies of invoices instead of physical documents. Those reforms were originally scheduled for implementation under Decree No. 390 of 2016 and were subsequently postponed by Decree No. 349 of 2018. More recent reports indicate that the electronic-document system had still not been implemented by 2025 and that the relevant digital customs system remained under development.

According to Art. 7 of Decree No. 2025/2015, the export of smartphones/mobile phones is prohibited, with some exceptions:
- Export is allowed if travellers carry the phones when leaving the national territory as personal possession (and no more than three units);
- In the case of temporary export;
- In case of definitive export, when they are considered waste electrical or electronic equipment;
- When the export of smartphones or mobile phones originates from a free zone within Colombia, and the products have been transformed, assembled, stored, repaired, or serviced by users of the free zone.
In addition, Art. 4 of Decree No. 2,142 modified Art. 7 of Decree No. 2,025 (chapter II), but export conditions for mobile phones remain in place.

Section 9 of Decree No. 1074 of 2015 regulates the conformity assessment procedure. There is a 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 recognised 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, and satellite.