Many Costa Rican rice producers in less productive areas doubt planting for the next season. The recent decision of the Costa Rican government to reduce the tariff on Rice imports from 35% to 4% in the case of shelled rice and from 35% to 3.5% in the case of chaffed rice affects the local producers since they will have to compete with international rice prices. The government's goal is to make rice cheaper for the final consumer. However, producers are extremely worried that they will not be able to compete with imported rice and that the whole rice sector of Costa Rica might disappear.