Costa Rica: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025
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Costa Rica was the origin of 90 of 22,156 US food import refusals in 2020–2025 (0.4%), ranking 43rd of 146 origins. 86% were hazard findings and 14% paperwork alone. 43% concerned vegetables and vegetable products; the most-cited safety charge was pesticide residue, and the most-cited paperwork charge nutrition labeling.
Every US food import refusal naming Costa Rica as origin, 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025. A refusal is one import entry, however many product lines it carried. Download every table (CSV).
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By year
| Year | Refusals | Share of US total | Rank among origins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 13 | 0.5% | 35 |
| 2021 | 2 | 0.1% | 85 |
| 2022 | 19 | 0.6% | 31 |
| 2023 | 30 | 0.9% | 21 |
| 2024 | 14 | 0.4% | 41 |
| 2025 | 12 | 0.2% | 57 |
| 2020–2025 | 90 | 0.4% | 43 |
Year links open that year's refusals, entry by entry.
Tables below show each year 2020–2025; cells are shaded against their row's own peak. Change compares 2025 with 2020 and is shown only where 2020 had at least 10 refusals ("new" where it had none).
Hazard or paperwork
A refusal is a hazard finding when any of its charges is a safety one — filth, pathogens, residues, contaminants, unsafe additives — and paperwork when every charge is labelling, registration or a missing filing. One citing only charge codes FDA has not published is unclassified.
| Year | Hazard findings | Paperwork only | Unclassified | Hazard share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| 2022 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 78.9% |
| 2023 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 93.3% |
| 2024 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 78.6% |
| 2025 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 75.0% |
| 2020–2025 | 77 | 13 | 0 | 85.6% |
By industry
| FDA industry | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetables and Vegetable Products rates → Vegetables-other |
4 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 39 (43.3%) | — |
| Fishery/Seafood Products | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 31 (34.4%) | — |
| Fruit and Fruit Products rates → Fruit-other |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 (5.6%) | — |
| Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum rates → Candy |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Cereal Preparations, Breakfast Foods | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Coffee and Tea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Multiple Food Dinners, Gravies, Sauces, and Specialties (Total Diet) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Snack Food Items (Flour, Meal, or Vegetable Base) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Bakery Products, Doughs, Bakery Mixes, and Icings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | — |
| Dressings and Condiments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | — |
| Gelatin, Rennet, Pudding Mixes, and Pie Fillings rates → | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (1.1%) | new |
| Soups | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (1.1%) | new |
| Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, and Unconventional Dietary Specialties for Humans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | — |
By charge group
A refusal citing charges in two groups counts once in each, so rows can add up to more than the total.
| Charge group | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pesticide residues (hazard) | 4 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 35 (38.9%) | — |
| Filth and insanitary conditions (hazard) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 32 (35.6%) | — |
| Labelling (paperwork) | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 20 (22.2%) | — |
| Salmonella (hazard) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 (7.8%) | — |
| Process and registration (paperwork) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 (5.6%) | — |
| Histamine (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 (3.3%) | — |
| Unsafe additives (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.2%) | — |
| Undeclared allergens (hazard) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | — |
| Contaminants (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.1%) | — |
Most-cited charges
FDA's own charge codes, with a plain-English label. Each is counted once per refusal.
Safety charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
pesticide residue PESTICIDE |
4 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 35 | — |
filth FILTHY |
4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 28 | — |
Salmonella SALMONELLA |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | — |
histamine HISTAMINE |
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
insanitary conditions INSANITARY |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
unfit for food UNFIT4FOOD |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | new |
unsafe color additive UNSAFE COL |
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
undeclared allergen ALLERGEN |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
poisonous substance POISONORD |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
Paperwork charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nutrition labeling NUTRIT LBL |
0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | — |
no process filing NO PROCESS |
0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | — |
no net quantity LACKS N/C |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | — |
labeling LABELING |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | — |
no manufacturer name LACKS FIRM |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | — |
not in English NO ENGLISH |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | — |
color not declared COLOR LBLG |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
false or misleading label FALSE |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | new |
ingredients not listed LIST INGRE |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
no contact information NCONTACT |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
By month
Pooled across 2020–2025. Each row is shaded against its own peak, so its season shows whatever its size. Hazard findings peak in December; Paperwork only peak in September.
Hazard or paperwork
| Kind | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazard findings | 11 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 12 | December |
| Paperwork only | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | September |
By charge group
| Charge group | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pesticide residues | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | June |
| Filth and insanitary conditions | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | December |
| Labelling | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | January |
| Salmonella | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | June |
| Process and registration | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | April |
Import divisions
The FDA division that handled the entry. DSWI and DNBI are the Mexican and Canadian land borders, so this says as much about the route as about the product.
| Division | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSEI — Southeast | 11 | 1 | 18 | 22 | 9 | 8 | 69 | −27% |
| DNEI — Northeast | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | — |
| DWCI — West Coast | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | — |
| DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | — |
| DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
Method
- Source: FDA Import Refusal Report (U.S. Food and Drug Administration); every food import refusal dated 2020–2025.
- Counts are import entries, not product lines. A refusal naming several origins counts once for each, so origin shares can add up to more than 100%.
- Charge groups are this site's grouping of FDA's charge codes; a code belongs to the first group that claims it, the same rule as the hazard pages.
- A charge is what FDA cited to refuse the entry, often on appearance or documents rather than a laboratory result. Counts depend on how often each product is examined, so they are not a rate of unsafe food.
- Licence: CC-BY-4.0. Cite as "Costa Rica: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025", fruit-risk.com, 2026-09-20, https://fdair.fruit-risk.com/reports/costa-rica.html.
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