Costa Rica Becomes Latest Member Of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Costa Rica officially became the 38th member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Tuesday, the Paris-based international forum said.

The formal step comes after Costa Rica’s Congress last week gave the all-clear for the state to become the OECD’s fourth Latin American member alongside Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Founded in 1961, the OECD is dedicated to promoting policies for economic and social well-being.

Its member countries, including the United States and France, move 60 percent of world trade and represent 80 percent of global gross domestic product.

Costa Rica had “introduced major reforms to align its legislation, policies and practices to OECD standards” during its five-year accession process, the body said.

Among other areas, the changes affected “competition policy and enforcement, a redesign of the national statistics system, the introduction of criminal liability of legal persons for foreign bribery and the establishment of a register of shareholders to ensure tax transparency,” it added.

Secretary-General Angel Gurria said the OECD was “impressed that the cross-party commitment to OECD accession that we witnessed during the accession process continued into the ratification phase, despite the pandemic”.

Brazil could be the next Latin American member for the club, after officially expressing interest in 2017.