Despite coffee being one of the nation’s major exports, some 500 tons of caffeine are imported each year for pharmaceuticals and drinks because no one extracts the substance here.

Orlando Hernández, a lawmaker affiliated with the Partido Acción Ciudadana, raised this issue in the legislature Tuesday as he praised a pilot project in Turrialba which is being supported by the  governments of Brazil and Colombia, as well as local experts.

He said that sometimes the caffeine that is imported comes from the same beans that Costa Rica exported. Local production would produce a less expensive product because money would be saved in not pushing the beans around, he said. Hernández said that the extraction process is relatively simple. Lawmakers will be asked to approve an agreement with Brazil and Colombia.