Costa Rica bans bromacil; Del Monte's pineapple permits face challenges
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Costa Rica banned the herbicide bromacil in 2017 after residues were found in Siquirres water networks. Del Monte's pineapple company has faced a cancelled environmental permit in Osa and community objections to a planned expansion in Guácimo.
- Fresh Del Monte — pineapple segment, which the company's 2026 filing highlights while its Costa Rican production fell U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Guácimo water sources and biological corridor — risk from a planned pineapple expansion of more than 400 hectares, according to communities Delfino
What happened
Costa Rica banned bromacil in 2017; the decree says residues were found in four Siquirres water networks and that good practice on large pineapple areas could still contaminate the aquifer (Decree 40423).
The environment ministry withdrew environmental viability from a roughly 600-hectare pineapple development by Del Monte's pineapple company in Osa in 2019, near the Térraba-Sierpe wetland (Delfino 2019).
Communities in Guácimo say the same company plans to convert more than 400 hectares to pineapple, which could affect water sources and a biological corridor; no company statement was found (Delfino 2026).
Fresh Del Monte closed four banana farms in Limón on 5 May 2026, cutting about 850 jobs (800 to 900 according to another source), according to La Nación and CRHoy.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: exchange-rate pressure, rather than disease, was the main reason for the farm closures.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Costa Rica is free of TR4 (Panama disease), according to an industry body; no official confirmation was found.
- None on record No source reviewed states that the company depleted the soil; this claim was not found.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Company or project
- Fresh Del Monte Produce Form 10-QU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2026-06-26
Press and investigations
- Decree 40423 (bromacil prohibition, PDF)FAOLEX · 2017
- Fresh Del Monte closes four banana farms in LimónLa Nación · 2026
- Costa Rica's green paradoxFreshPlaza · 2019-11-05
Connected cases
- Fresh Del Monte closure of four Costa Rica banana farms Costa Rica · 2019
- Fresh Del Monte Produce (Company) — here: pineapple and banana producer; closed Limón farms; there: Company that closed the four banana farms