Discussions towards a free trade agreement began in January 1991, when the presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and Mexico signed the Declaration of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which provided a framework for trade relations between Central American countries and Mexico.

In February of 1991, Costa Rica and Mexico began preliminary meetings to exchange information and to discuss means of deepening and facilitating trade. Negotiations with Costa Rica began in April 1993. The scope of negotiations widened from a focus on goods to include other areas such as services, investment, intellectual property, and government procurement. The agreement was signed on 5 April 1994 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Documents relating to the negotiations
11 January 1991	Declaration of Tuxtla Gutiérrez
11 January 1991	Act of the Heads of State of the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United Mexican States
11 January 1991	Agreement of Tuxtla Gutierrez between the presidents of Central America and Mexico
Source: Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA)

The Mexico-Costa Rica free trade agreement entered into force on 01 January 1995.

Documents relating to the entry into force
27 April 2005	Costa Rica and Mexico celebrate ten years of entry into force of their FTA
Source: Ministerio de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (COMEX)

Article 16-01 of the Agreement establishes an Administrative Commission to oversee the implementation and operation of the Agreement.

Decisions of the Administrative Committee
30 May 2005	Decision No 18. Modifications to the annex to Article 5-03 and its appendix and to Annex 1 to Article 5-15 with the modifications to the Harmonized System 2002 version
	Annex I
	Annex II
	Costa Rica Decree 32382
	Mexico - Agreement Adopting Decision No 10
27 September 2004	Decision No 17. Application of Categories C2 and E2 of the Tariff Liberalization Programme
12 September 2002	Decision No 16. List of arbitrators set out in paragraph 1 (List of Arbitrators) of Article 17-08 of Chapter XVII, Dispute Settlement
12 September 2002	Decision No 15. Bilateral register pertaining to Section C (Transfer of Persons within a Company) of the Annex to Article 10-04 (Temporary Entry of Business Persons) established in Chapter 10
12 September 2002	Decision No 14. Bilateral register pertaining to Section C (Transfer of Persons within a Company) of the Annex to Article 10-04 (Temporary Entry of Business Persons) established in Chapter 10
12 September 2002	Decision No 13. List of arbitrators set out in paragraph 4 of Article 13-26of Chapter XIII, Investment
27 July 2000	Decision No 12. Costa Rica and Mexico's lists of nonconforming measures (Annex I), economic activities reserved by each Party (Annex II), Annex of exceptions to MFN treatment (Annex III), quantitative restrictions (Annex IV) established in Chapter 9, Trade in Services, and in Chapter 13, Investment
25 July 2000	Decision No 11. Creation of the Administrative Subcommission
15 January 1999	Decision No 10. Decision regarding the Annex to Article 5-21
	Costa Rica Decree 27858
	Mexico - Agreement Adopting Decision No 10
15 January 1999	Decision No 9. Approval of the Rules of Operation of the Committee on Regional Integration of Inputs (CIRI). Enters into force 15 March 1999
	Costa Rica - Decree 27859
	Mexico - Agreement Adopting Decision No 9
9 June 1998	Decision No. 8. Modifications to the annex to article 5-03 and its appendix, to annex 1 of article1996 version of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. Enters into force: 1 April 1999
	Costa Rica: Decree 27860 and fe de erratas
	Mexico: Agreement adopting Decision No 8
20 March 1998	Decision No. 7. Establishment of a Secretariat for the Agreement
10 May 1996	Decision No. 6. Creation of a Committee on Government Procurement
10 May 1996	Decision No. 5. Creation of a Committee on Services and Investment
10 May 1996	Decision No. 4. Model Rules of Procedure for Chapter XVII
10 May 1996	Decision No. 3. Code of Conduct for the Dispute Settlement Procedures set out in Chapter XVIII
10 May 1996	Decision No. 2. Creation of the Committee on Goods
10 May 1996	Decision No.1. Modification of the instructions for filling out the rules of origin certificate
Source: Ministerio de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (COMEX); Secretaría de Economía de México

On 15 January 1999 the parties signed an Agreement on the tariff acceleration for certain goods originating in each country to take effect 1 June 1999. This was passed in Costa Rica through decree 27931 H on 15 January 1999 and published in the official Gazette on 16 June 1999.

Documents relating to tariff acceleration
15 January 1999	Costa Rica decree 27931 H
15 January 1999	Agreement on the tariff acceleration for certain goods originating in each country
Source: Ministerio de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (COMEX)