Countries › Costa Rica › Guide › 12. Sectors › Coffee in Costa Rica: ICAFE registration, regulated margins and the export levy

Coffee in Costa Rica: ICAFE registration, regulated margins and the export levy

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

Coffee is the one Costa Rican crop with a statutory value chain. Processing mills (beneficios), exporters, roasters and buyers must register with the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE), and export contracts are registered and price checked. The law caps the mill's share at 9% of net sales and the exporter's margin at 2.5% or 1.5%, and exporters pay ICAFE a levy of up to 1.5% of FOB value.

USD figures use the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of ₡454.82 per US dollar published for 29 October 2026 (indicator 318 on bccr.fi.cr), rounded to the cent.

Key facts

ICAFE export contribution cap	1.5 % of FOBLey 2762 art. 133, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Processor share of net sales	9 %Ley 2762 art. 69, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum exporter margin buying at market risk	2.5 %Ley 2762 art. 112, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum exporter margin as intermediary	1.5 %Ley 2762 art. 112, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. A processor (beneficiador) must be registered with ICAFE and needs an ICAFE licence to run a processing plant; exporters must be registered with ICAFE before buying and exporting coffee; ICAFE keeps registers of producers, processors, exporters, roasters and other processors.Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 6, 8, 10 and 11, 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Only registered and authorised processing plants, receiving points, roasters, exporters and trading buyers may operate; unregistered operators have five business days to regularise, then pay five salarios base and may be closed.
Cost to do it: 5 salarios base after the cure period.
Example: ₡2,311,000 / US$5,081.13Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 120, 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. From net sales, after allowed costs and taxes, the processor keeps 9% for all its industrial and marketing work and may charge no other commission besides legal interest on financing.Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 69(5), 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Export sale contracts are registered with ICAFE; contracts with payment later than 20 business days after delivery of the coffee are not registered, and registration once approved is final save limited rescission grounds.Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 96 and 97, 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. The exporter's net profit cannot exceed 2.5% of the transaction value when it buys at market risk without a confirmed foreign sale, or 1.5% when acting as intermediary; ICAFE corrects prices that exceed these margins.Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 112 and 113, 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Exporters pay ICAFE a mandatory contribution of up to 1.5% of the FOB value of exported coffee per 46 kg unit of green coffee at export; non payers lose the export licence.
Cost to do it: Up to 1.5% of FOB value.
Example: On ₡454,820,000 FOB: up to ₡6,822,300. / On US$1,000,000 FOB: up to US$15,000.Ley 2762, Régimen de relaciones entre productores, beneficiadores y exportadores de café (text as reformed by Ley 9872), art. 133(a), 2020-07-28 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Worked example

A foreign specialty buyer sets up a Costa Rican exporter and ships US$1,000,000 FOB (about ₡454,820,000). It registers with ICAFE, registers each export contract with payment within 20 business days of delivery, and pays ICAFE up to 1.5%, US$15,000. Acting as intermediary, its margin is capped at 1.5%, US$15,000.

Step by step

Register the company as exporter, roaster or processor with ICAFE.
For mills, obtain the ICAFE plant licence and post the required guarantees.
Register every export contract with ICAFE before shipment.
Pay the ICAFE levy at export and keep price evidence for ICAFE's margin checks.

Common traps

ICAFE can rewrite contract prices that breach the margin caps.
Deferred payment terms beyond 20 business days block contract registration.
Operating a mill or export business without ICAFE registration leads to fines and closure.

Sources

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