Costa Rica expands customs transit data requirements

Transit declarations will require more detail

The Ministry says Resolutions MH-DGA-RES-1714-2026 and MH-DGA-RES-1721-2026 strengthen information requirements for goods moving under customs transit. From 11 January 2027, declarations must include line-level consignee identification, tariff classification at eight or twelve digits, value, units, gross and net weight, condition, supplier and invoice information. The stated objective is greater traceability and risk control before goods reach their final customs destination.^[1]

The scope reaches special regimes

The announcement says the requirements apply across transit types and also affect movements involving free zones, active-processing regimes and re-exports. Movements into customs warehouses must be linked to the relevant consignee. The affected operational population includes carriers, customs brokers, warehouse operators and businesses using free-zone or active-processing procedures.^[1]

Systems and master data need preparation

Importers and logistics teams should test whether supplier, invoice, tariff, quantity, weight and consignee data can be supplied at the required line level before the new start date. Contracts and operating procedures with carriers, brokers and warehouse providers should allocate responsibility for complete and accurate data. Classification and master-data controls matter because the Ministry identifies both eight- and twelve-digit tariff fields.^[1]

Technical annexes remain a separate gap

The Ministry’s announcement supports the date, scope and listed data fields, but the full resolution annexes and technical XML specifications were not recovered. This report therefore does not assert field formats, validation rules, exceptions, sanctions or contingency procedures. Those details should be confirmed from the resolutions and customs-system documentation before implementation is signed off.^[1]