Scope
RTCR 409:2008 applies to products and subproducts of fishing and aquaculture that are commercialized for human consumption in Costa Rica. Article 1 establishes maximum microbiological limits, veterinary-drug-residue limits, and contaminant limits for these products. The front matter and definitions identify the Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal (SENASA), under the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia, as the competent authority.
The metal and metalloid entries routeable to HMI are the section 3 chemical-contaminant tables for mercury, cadmium, lead, and tin in fishery products. Pesticides, dioxins, veterinary drugs, histamine, microbiology, colors, water-process controls, and additives are outside the regulatory metal-limit register for this ingest.
Exact limit and units
The source states values in mg/kg. The structured evidence register converts those values to ug/kg by multiplying by 1000. The tables do not state a wet-weight or dry-weight qualifier.
| Section | Species | Matrix | Limit | Unit | Structured value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 row 1 | tHg | Crustaceans, cephalopods without viscera, and bivalve molluscs | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| 3.1 row 2 | tHg | Fish in general, except the row 3 listed species | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| 3.1 row 3 | tHg | Tuna, bonito, eel, marlin, ray, sharks, and swordfish | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 1 | Cd | Crustaceans | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 2 | Cd | Fish in general, except the row 3 and row 6 listed species | 0.05 | mg/kg | 50 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 3 | Cd | Sardine and eel | 0.1 | mg/kg | 100 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 4 | Cd | Bivalve molluscs | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 5 | Cd | Cephalopods without viscera | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| 3.2 row 6 | Cd | Swordfish | 0.3 | mg/kg | 300 ug/kg |
| 3.3 row 1 | Pb | Crustaceans | 0.5 | mg/kg | 500 ug/kg |
| 3.3 row 2 | Pb | Fish in general, except the row 3 listed species | 0.3 | mg/kg | 300 ug/kg |
| 3.3 row 3 | Pb | Tuna and bonito | 0.2 | mg/kg | 200 ug/kg |
| 3.3 row 4 | Pb | Bivalve molluscs | 1.5 | mg/kg | 1500 ug/kg |
| 3.3 row 5 | Pb | Cephalopods without viscera | 1.0 | mg/kg | 1000 ug/kg |
| 3.4 | Sn | Canned fishery products | 200 | mg/kg | 200000 ug/kg |
The source heading for mercury does not specify methylmercury, so the mercury rows are recorded as tHg and should not be used as methylmercury limits without additional legal context.
How tested
Section 11 states that methods used to verify the parameters are those established in SENASA Resolution No. 002-2008 DG-SENASA, published in La Gaceta No. 94 on 16 May 2008. Article 7 states that the sampling system, interpretation of results, and methodology for determining compliance will be published in La Gaceta by an administrative directive from SENASA’s Director General and made available on SENASA’s website.
Enforcement posture
The decree is binding for Costa Rican fishery and aquaculture products. Article 3 requires imported fishery products to comply with the decree’s limits. Article 6 states that products and subproducts exceeding the fixed limits after analysis are subject to the corresponding sanitary measure under Costa Rica’s Ley General del Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal. Article 8 assigns SENASA responsibility for ensuring compliance.
History of changes
The decree was signed on 9 July 2008 and published in La Gaceta No. 160 on 20 August 2008. Article 9 states that it takes effect one month after publication in the official gazette, so this page records an effective date of 20 September 2008. No later amendment was evaluated in this bulk-ingest pass.
How it compares
RTCR 409:2008 is a fishery-specific contaminant rule. Its cadmium, lead, mercury, and tin rows are most comparable to fishery-product schedules in Codex, EU, Mexico, and other national seafood standards, but comparisons must preserve the product grouping and the source’s mercury species. Because the source says mercury rather than methylmercury, HMI treats these rows as total-mercury regulatory limits.
The tin row is limited to canned fishery products and should not be generalized to all canned foods or to non-fishery canned products.
Sources
Update history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| a8052bb | 2026-08-09 | major | 1 source added; contamination-profile values revised; 7 sections added |