Costa Rica Finally Starts Regulating Food Trucks

It is expected that in the first week of May the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica will vote on the first bill that regulates food trucks. Currently, there are food vendors on wheels in the country, but they are not allowed to move through the city and throughout different regions — they mostly operate in parking lots or places designed for them.

This has meant that the concept of food trucks has not totally been articulated in Costa Rica. What we’ve had until now is a business scheme where food vendors that sell their products from vehicles are always stationary. They can’t even park in the streets with a license, so they’re usually confined to private property.

The bill was approved after two debates in Congress. After the Executive branch of power signs it into law, local governments will be authorized to establish a special temporary commercial license to sell food from trucks on the streets. Municipalities will get to choose the rates and terms of validity of said licenses.

Congress representatives vowed to free food trucks from excessive requirements after the first version of the bill became a labyrinth of contradictory and unnecessary obligations. An earlier version of the bill included wastewater storage tanks and portable sinks as requisites for each food truck, but the current version doesn’t cite them.

The excessive requirements set out in the original text caused representatives to put a stop to the discussion and voting of the bill, in order to negotiate more flexible conditions. The changes seem to have left everyone in the Legislative Assembly satisfied since the proposal is on its way to becoming a law.

Requisites for food truck licenses

According to the bill that’s being discussed, there would be eight requisites to get a food truck license:

1. Get a temporary permit from the local government of the canton that determines the physical space enabled to develop the commercial activity.

2. Get the sanitary operating permit from the Ministry of Health.

3. Get the special temporary business license from the local government of the canton in which the food truck will operate.

4. Get a work risk policy.

5. Register the business activity carried out before the Ministry of Finance.

6. Register with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CAJA or CCSS in Spanish).

7. Get a permit for the use of LP gas, according to regulations and when applicable. (Businesses that do not sell food are exempt from this requirement.)

8. Workers in charge of handling food products must have a valid food handling course issued by any competent or authorized entity. (Businesses that do not sell food are exempt from this requirement.)

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health will draft the regulation’s ruling for this law when passed. Owners of food trucks will have to comply with the infrastructure and furniture requirements that the Ministry of Health deems appropriate for each type of commercial activity that can be carried out in trucks.

Prohibitions

The law will also have at least three prohibitions for food truck owners:

1. They can’t throw their own or their clients’ food waste or any type of garbage on public roads.

2. They can’t dispose of wastewater from sinks in the streets.

3. They can’t obstruct the way of passers-by with the installation of their food trucks or other external space related to the activity.

Local authorities

This law gives most competence and authority to local governments. These municipalities will have to establish temporary commercial licenses for food trucks, and their respective extensions. Local governments will regulate everything from land use to licenses, except for the requirements made by the Ministry of Health.

Other dispositions

The bill also establishes that:

• The licenses for food trucks will be temporary and free of cost. They will be issued for a maximum of one year periods, which may be extended for equal periods.

• Before giving out licenses, local governments will have to carry out social studies to determine the viability of these food truck operations in specific locations.

• The license holders may not assign or lease the permits, neither act as simple intermediaries between governments and food vendors.

• The food sold on food trucks can’t be industrialized or commercial. It has to be locally crafted food by small businesses.

• All temporary licenses may be reviewed and revoked if it is determined that the use for which they were granted has changed or its exploitation is illegal or contrary to local regulations.

• The food trucks that get a licenses must preserve the urban aesthetics and the freedom of transit, as well as the social and tourist factors that favor the community.

Stay tuned to our website and social media channels for more news regarding this and other new laws in Costa Rica and Panama.