Costa Rica's President, Rodrigo Chaves, has announced plans to reduce the country's rice imports from 36% to between 3% and 5%, depending on the type of grain. This move is aimed at breaking the oligopoly and stopping the advantage gained by large importers at the expense of the poor. Additionally, the president has declared a subsidy for 90% of the country's rice producers, allowing them to shift to smaller-scale farming. The National Production Council will also accept rice from small producers, in case the large industrialists refuse. The president's statement highlights the substantial amount of money, over 1,000 million colones, that he believes the people of Costa Rica should not have had to pay.